Bleach - Nikushimi no Ya (Grudge Arrow)
by darkbeetlebot
Summary: Follow the shinigami Yumiko Nishimura on her quest of rage to completely eradicate the hollow scourge for the sake of personal revenge against the adjuchas that destroyed her life and killed all of her friends and family. Canon divergent, brutal, mostly OCs, female-centric, dark themes, and minor romance. Prologue (Act 0) is optional backstory. Pacing is slow, be patient.
1. Act 0 CH1: The Guardian

_**Notice: Act 0 (this act) is ALMOST COMPLETELY OPTIONAL and NOT THE INTENDED STARTING POINT. If you are impatient for below-average pacing and pure backstory, please SKIP TO ACT 1 CHAPTER 1: SUNNY DAYS. Only read this act if you are interested in the backstory.**_

* * *

 **PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 1:**

 **THE GUARDIAN**

Rukongai West, District 32, June of 1953. Blood fills the air and the screams of whole and hollow alike ring in the ears of the survivors. There were merely three monstrosities at the center of it all, massacring everything in sight. In the dead of night, they struck and killed hundreds. Minutes later, that turned into thousands. Shadows that stalked the innocent, the sheer embodiments evil took everything and left no ashes - nothing. And she stood in the middle of it, unable to do anything.

Chiyo – a pale, impoverished, black-haired child – stared out of the window of her half of a two-floor home while her parents held her tightly. The alarm bells were ringing across the entire district and yet nobody was here to stop it. In the distance, she could see the explosions and dust rising from the destruction, coming closer and closer each second. Bright red beams of light shot out momentarily to light up the night and further demolish everything in their paths.

Suddenly, everything fell silent. For just a moment, there was a peace as if the monsters had given up or finally been slain. Alas, it was short-lived. As she continued to stare out of the window, senses nascent and blinded by fear, the building in front of her suddenly collapsed – a huge shadow struck forward, the sword talons cleaving in twain that which stood in its way. She was pushed aside by her father, who was bifurcated by the sudden attack. Everything remained silent to her ears, ringing in a bout of Tinnitus. The hand of his slayer stuck in her mind as it stared through her soul: a totally featureless porcelain mask atop a mass of bestial darkness. It stared with its uncanny gaze, turning red, a light shone into their home that gathered around its gaze.

Once more, she lost everything. Her mother screamed and covered her, "Chiyo!" When the flash of red filled the room. Everything before her eyes went white and black, the floor beneath her crumbled at a whim and sent her falling into the floor below. The burnt, black, disintegrating cadaver of her apparent mother covered her completely from the blast. She pushed it off hastily while the smell of singed nickel and heaving ashen oak assaulted her, the corpse quickly falling into the air before her while she fled towards one end of the bottom floor where another frightened family of 3 lived. Quickly, their youngest son was dispatched with a mere crash of the beast's claws swiping just next to Chiyo where he came to help her. The wall tore open, a huge gash soon collapsing in on itself. Drenched in the proofs of death, she leaps through the newly made hole without a moment's thought and gets flung into the air by the hand simply raising!

Another beam of light erupts into the ground to her left, demolishing what's left of the building she just came from and blowing a clean hole in another just beyond it. There are no screams. As the clouds of dust erupt from the rubble of the falling home, she flees into the allies of the neighborhood. The night falls silent as the beastly hollow unleashes a deafening roar. She doesn't turn back to see what it looks like, she just keeps running. It thrashes around, sending debris barreling into other buildings; it smashes into them and destroys everything in its path. Crowds of Rukon peasants begin fleeing from their homes down the broad main streets, with many carrying their children or some form of weapon to defend themselves with.

Her run breaks into a sprint as soon as the echoing screams of people being consumed by the screechers flying above resound in the night's air. One hung above her, waiting and watching for a vulnerable moment to strike. She spots it for a brief moment, immediately choosing to dive into another alley and make her way into the larger crowd. The people who recognize her call her name, "Chiyo, look out!" The hollow dives right onto her, pinning her to the ground and screeching at her in preparation to kill. She flinches, looks away; when the people come to her aid with their tools slamming into and raking the hollow until its pitch essence spills all over them and the ground. It falls over, they gang up on it and wail on the thing while Chiyo gets back up and continues to sprint away. She takes one moment to look back, but regrets it as she witnesses them all being torn to pieces by the hand of the blank-faced hollow form before while its massive wings eclipse the moon itself.

So that their sacrifice is not in vain, she chooses not to fight but to continue fleeing as far from the beast as possible. It whispers to her from afar, just as loud as if it were right next to her, " **I WILL FIND YOU ONE DAY, NAMELESS GIRL.** " She tries to ignore it, but finds herself being befittingly haunted by the hollow. She made it away safely after hours into the night of nothing but running and trying to evade what hasn't followed her. Beyond the scope of the hollows, she still saw their destruction continuing. She found herself in a completely foreign part of the district with nobody who recognized her or sympathized. It was on that night that those beasts killed nearly a quarter of the entire population of that district before leaving, before there was even a response to the attack. She resented them for it. Not just the hollows, but the shinigami who failed to help, who never came until it was too late. Yet nothing could help, so she simply lied back and accepted it.

Now a squatter in an abandoned shack with nothing more than a destroyed bed, she avoided contact with others as long as she could have. Each day was then-forth filled with boredom, solitude, and an overall nihilistic atmosphere. If not that harsh, it was at least pessimistic and anti-social. Most of her time was spent either wandering around outside and scavenging food and water, or lying in bed and daydreaming until sleep comes. Over time, she found this to be unsatisfactory and decided to find a new association. One who could teach her how to follow her vow of vengeance with action, and obtain the strength to one day face the beast that had killed everyone she knew and loved.

It took returning to an empty home every night only to starve; no sympathy from those who claimed to pity, living completely alone. It took this to realize her place in this hell of a life. And then it came: a voice. It spoke to her one night and comforted her with sweet nothings, empty promises of things to come, lies of enjoyment, and the word that it was herself. It had no name, and it claimed her soul, that charismatic and empty voice that was her. It was that, her asauchi, that spoke to her and gave her the courage to stand. And so she stood, on lies and false promises of the future. It was blatantly dishonest, for honesty would have killed her. At least, that's what it claims.

It was during a minor assault on a block close to hers that she decided once and for all to choose what destiny she would take. In the close past, she had associated with a hunter who hired her and in return fed her with their catches; and he had given her an old bow to practice with. This was the first thing she grabbed when the screams started. She made her way to the site by way of rooftop until the fiend was in sight: a 2-man-sized monstrosity that looked like an amalgamation of wolf and fish and wore a pale mask with a depraved look to it that could pierce the hearts of the bravest of men. Its hairs and quills stood on end as it murdered a mother and primed to devour her son as well. The now nameless girl stood above it with her puny weapon in hand and little hope to do anything, but she defied that chance and fired at it with a ruthless fervor. Two more, in quick succession that led the beast to be stunned at the surprise attack. As it looked back, another flew into it and pierced its eye. The beast screamed in pain and thrashed around, but she didn't relent. She continued to pelt it with several more, then more after that. The missiles ran out soon, and she was forced to the ground where someone threw her what little they could spare: a mesely scythe. She climbed atop the beast and hacked into it bit by bit with that almost useless tool, but somehow managed to break its mask and lead it to death.

So there she stood before a hollow's corpse, having nothing left to do but turn to the victim. The boy she saved stood there; dumbfounded, terrified, bawling. She approached and embraced him, "It'll be okay." She lied, and they both knew it. They stood there and shared the pain – she held him as he cried and the people around simply stood and watched. Soon, someone came and took him. When they did, she left. The people who saw couldn't help but label her a hero, but she payed it no heed and simply returned to her empty home with nothing but the guilt of having to bear witness to that. There in the middle of the broken-down mess of a building that she merely squatted in lay a sword. It screamed to her as she came in with that familiar, deceitful voice. It spoke once more to her of that lie of hope, one that was clearly just a nice thought wrapped in a convincing charade. It beckoned her to pick it up, so she did. It was a katana with a red handle and a silver ribbon, whose guard was two crescents side-by-side and whose scabbard was of black. It was silent while she held it, yet it breathed down her neck like a stalker in the night. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but strangely satisfying. She resolved then and there to continue.

From then on, she kept her conviction on the fragile basis of white lies fed by this opium-ex-machina. For years later, she would spend countless hours hovering over her strange home and watching like a mighty sentinel for her enemies to return so that she may destroy them. Eventually, this earned her the name of Yumiko Nishimura. She hadn't chosen it, it simply came. What began as a quest for vengeance soon transformed into a guardian mission. Once to destroy a foe, now to prevent the misfortunes of others by their hands. And this is where they called her by Koken: Their protector. For years after, she was the one who stalked the night, who preyed upon shadows. She who was the destroyer of destroyers. Not a hero, but a vigilante who took the responsibility of life.

Yet, despite her status and concern, she took strides to not befriend those she protected. Those that spoke tales of her exploits could never refrain from calling her a cold and ruthless hermit. And the blade by her side did nothing to help; it kept her far from others, pointing them out as burdens. It taught her, "You will only lead them to their dooms." Though a lie, it was also a truth hiding in plain sight. Dooms – fates – are all that make up the world: series of events leading to destinies and more events. Of course, it never explicitly stated this and let the remark remain vague and interpretative. Perhaps it wanted her to defy it?

Nevertheless, it led her to solitude, for she followed its every word. Those that followed her didn't realize that they were following her blade. And so, they all met their untimely demise by the hands of its trickery. One by one, they all dropped like flies; not a single apprentice survived: None to follow but her. So now she is alone with her selfish spirit. This is Yumiko Nishimura-koken, and this is her fate.

* * *

It was January of 1980 when Yumiko finally decided to change her future and to become more than many of the Rukongai could ever claim to. She was perched atop the roof of a two-story building while on the lookout for a shinigami that was apparently stationed there recently; a rookie who had been assigned just a week ago. Yumiko had been following his every movement since he was assigned without him even noticing. She circled him day and night like a vulture waiting for a lost lizard to die. It ended up that the time spent tracking him was peaceful, with barely any hollow attacks to speak of. However, she worried that his presence was making them more careful about their plans, and that they may just be stockpiling units to make sure that they overpower him. If such a thing were true, there would probably be a large battle about to take place.

So, one day as the sun set and the scout was finishing his duties for the day, Yumiko decided to approach him from the shadows in her bland, hooded tunic. "You're the first in a long time." she tells him.

The man freezes in his tracks just outside a bar, then turns towards the alley she stands in. He seems relieved after noticing her stature, so he underestimates her with an added cheeky smirk, "Wow, to think a kid like you could startle me like that. What the hell are you doing out so late, anyways? You could get hurt, you know."

Despite his obvious, genuine concern; Yumiko takes offense to it as lightly masked patronization. She steps out from the shadows and draws her bow in one smooth motion, "If I were you, I'd watch what you say." she threatens.

The shinigami takes a quick step back immediately upon noticing the arrow pointed squarely between his eyes. He cautiously places a hand on his Zanpakuto's handle and loses his aforementioned cheeky smirk, "And if I were you, I'd put that thing down immediat–" But before he can finish his sentence, she launches the arrow into the ground between his feet, drops the whole weapon, and draws her own blade! The shinigami manages to parry with his own just moments before hers can make contact; the two blades fly to her right with a loud, metallic screech. She holds his sword there, away from both of them.

"You might just survive with reflexes like that." she claims, then flourishing and backstepping into a defensive stance. The two point their blades at each other.

"H-How...?" the man begins with a nervous stutter, "Is that a Zanpakuto? How did you get that, and how the hell can you make a draw like that!?" He seems to have lost his nerve.

"That's right. This thing is mine. The rest doesn't concern you." She informs him. The man begins to respond, but she cuts him off with a quicky couple of jabs that he manages to avoid, but then she transitions into a diagonal cut from below that he blocks! As soon as she realizes what just happened, she whispers, _"Kowareta."_ The blade glows for a brief moment before suddenly shortening to half its original length! The sword slips past the shinigami while he's busy being surprised. She doesn't stab him, but she punches him in the chest with the guard of the sword and maneuvers behind him while he's stunned. She puts him in a choke-hold with the shortened sword pointed at his throat.

"What just...?" He questions, unsure of how she managed to put him in this position. He doesn't attempt to struggle against the hold even though it's not particularly tight, if at all.

"Not good enough. You lived in the closer districts, didn't you?" she begins to interrogate him. Her voice in monotone, but has just the right hint of sharp, spicy resentment.

"What does that have–" He attempts to argue, but she simply tightens the hold and asks more specifically.

"I'll ask you again: Where did you live? Who trained you?" She sounds much more stern; her eyebrows are furled in frustration now.

The shinigami chokes a bit and hastily answers, "North, district 14! It was just the teachers at the academy! Now who the–"

Yumiko punches him in the back of the head, "You don't get to ask questions. Anyways, I'm done." She stays silent for a moment and holds him in that lock despite saying that, but eventually lets him go with a heavy sigh. "You won't last here. Don't engage the hollows, and get out while you can. You'll live longer."

The man is dumfounded, but glad to have not just died. As she walks back to her bow to retrieve it, he decides to speak again, "Hey! I'll have you arrested for this, you here me? Nobody attacks me and gets away with it!"

Just a second after he finishes and starts to rise, she whips around with an arrow drawn again and immediately launches it straight at him! It whizzes past, brushing his throat ever so lightly so that he can feel the wind of death touching him. He stands there, slowly rubbing his neck and trying to think of how to respond. She delivers a threatening one-liner, "I won't miss next time." and proceeds to walk back into the alley she came from.

He's left standing there, a nervous wreck that the small crowd that began gathering can now witness. They all stand there, whispering amongst themselves. He can't stand the thought of those people gossiping about his loss, so he retreats into the bar.

* * *

Later that night, the shinigami's Denreishinki detects at least 2 low-level hollows and 1 anomalous hollow closing in on his position. However, he is now completely and utterly hammered to the point where, when his radar went off, he toppled out of his chair and nearly broke his neck. He stumbles around on the ground for a while but evenually manages to wobble into the streets with his weapon drawn and waving it about while yelling, "Come 'n' ge' me ya pansies!" or something to that affect. Well, the two bat-like, man-sized hollows that had invaded were immediately upon him, able to swoop down and knock him over with absolutely no risk. One manages to knock the sword out of his hands, and they both screech at him afterwards.

The people strolling around that evening all panicked and started screaming at the sight of the two; they all tried to run indoors and most of them made it, but the winged beasts flipped targets and dive-bombed two people each! The four are pinned to the ground and about to be devoured with no help from the drunk shinigami. Just in time, as if planned out, Yumiko suddenly leaps from one of the rooftops and plunges her sword straight into the back of one hollow's head! It screams and writhes around, trying to buck her off but can't. She drives the blade deeper and deeper and then rips it out, making a giant fissure across the back of its head!

Just a moment later, the other now enraged bat-like beast charges towards her with an intimidating roar. Yumiko barely flinches, she simply faces it head-on with her sword ready to slam straight into its mask! Right when it comes too close for comfort, she jabs forward with as much force as she can muster to fully penetrate it! The blade goes right through the center and slides in with a horrible scraping sound, but the hollow seems to have been defeated the moment its mask was broken.

The two immediately begin to desintegrate upon death, leaving the four souls to run away and Yumiko and the shinigami safe for the moment. She approaches him, looking rather upset, and kicks him in the gut for added effect. She begins to repeatedly kick him in various places while berrating him, "Useless, idiotic, foolish, fumbling, drunkard buffoon! You almost cost a family their lives, and for what? So you could drink yourself to death and get nearly slaughtered by grunts!? Shame upon you and your whole family! I should..."

The berrating trails off into still silence while the Denreishinki starts to beep incessantly. The shinigami looks up and slowly changes his blissful and half-conscious expression into one of abject horror at what he has laid eyes upon. His eyes go wide, pupils tiny, mouth hung wide open in disbelief, face scrunching up and sweat and tears slowly forming. A presence lingers behind Yumiko – it opens its mouth to speak. As soon as that mouth is agape, the entire world feels like it's weighing down on their shoulders. The air turns to iron and the ground a giant magnet; color leaves the sky and heat leaves the body.

It speaks, with a voice so distorted and deep that any normal person wouldn't be able to understand it, **"** **IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, NAMELESS GIRL.** **"** Yumiko slowy turns around to meet the eyes of this horrifying foe. The first thing she sees is a pure white mask with absolutely no features aside from two perfectly circular eye holes with the perfect proportions to linger in the uncanny valley. It towers as tall as two grown men and has spindly, thorned limbs that encompass everything below it, standing like an ape. Its body though small to the rest of its body is covered in pitch-black fur that makes it seem three times larger, and out of that sprouts six raven-like wings that could eclipse the whole sun.

The beast of a hollow retracts its head via extremely long neck and makes a lightning-quick attack aimed squarely at Yumiko's head that she just barely manages to avoid...however, the shinigami behind her is not so lucky. His head get cleanly erased from existence and replaced by a messy puddle of chopped up gore on the ground to his right. The body topples over while Yumiko slowly rises and dumbfoundedly stares at the cadaver.

 **"** **FASTER THAN BEFORE.** **"** The beast compliments her, but tries once more just a moment later. He swipes downwards, Yumiko sidesteps his claw-hand and parries a second that comes in a blink later; two more parries and the sword finally gets knocked out of her hand! The beast seems to laugh twistedly and quietly, then knocks her backwards with the blunt end of its hand. She lands flat on her back with her head slamming into the ground, but luckily right next to her sword.

Yumiko coughs up a smattering of blood, then tries to lift herself back up but quickly notices a sharp pain in her stomach: despite being hit by the blunt end of his attack, there's still massive if also shallow cut running right across her waist! It starts to slowly seep blood and soak her tunic while giving her debilitating pains. She manages to lift her head up to see in front of her at least, but meets with the unpleasant sight of the monstrosity simply waiting for her to see it. It then proceeds to shriek like a white thresh and swipe its massive hand into a nearby building, destroying the wall and exposing several people taking cover inside! Yumiko tries to raise her hand in defiance, but is still ultimately unable to move before the huge masses of spiritual pressure toppling over onto her.

The hollow tilts its head towards her as if to ask, "No?" but promptly rejects any notion of mercy as it bicurates at least 6 people in one fell swoop. To Yumiko, it would appear as though a gaping, black smile were stretching over the whole width of its mask in slow motion, as if the people it killed were meaningless deaths meant only to rouse her. It works, as she tries to stand back up in vain, the huge injury still preventing her from standing correctly. As if it weren't painful enough, the hollow then approaches her in a casual manner – but still quick enough to surprise even shunpo practitioners – and smashes its hand into her side again! It sends her flying into the wall of a building with a painful thud and snapping sound. She quickly falls and collapses onto the ground, being unable to move even more than previously. The wound bleeds more and becomes deeper, with another now laid over it and across her whole left side.

Silently again, the beast lingers over her and raises its hand for another attack. Not a finishing blow, but something just weak enough to be considered sadistic. He begins to lightly pound her entire body into the ground punch after punch in a slow, methodical succession. Every time she starts to fade out of consciousness, he wakes her up with another painful bash. Everything weighs her down until even the simple task of raising a finger or speaking becomes nearly impossible. The only thing she can do is stay awake and endure the torture.

But then there's a glimmer of hope. Crowds of peasants from all around angrily gather with any weapon they could possibly find; they mob together and scream at the beast while throwing rocks and trash at it. Though this doesn't quite anger him, it proves as enough of a nuisence that they distract him from his fun. As soon as they have his attention, they charge forward with weapons raised as a seemingly unstoppable tidal wave of sharp sticks...that is then stopped in a single swipe of his hands. Several people are lethally wounded, but this doesn't shake the mob. The militia crash into him weapons-first and deal at least minor wounds to his legs, causing him to take flight and land on top of a nearby house. The mob follows him the best that they can, swarming around Yumiko defensively with all their poles pointed up at him. The hunters in the back all draw their bows and, at the word "Fire", all unleash a volley of arrows on the hollow! He's pelted repeatedly with what to him are merely large needles that prove an average threat at best.

He would close back in on them and destoy the mob easily, but both his sadistic nature and the surprising oncoming of a force of reiatsu even stronger than his stop him cold. Without another word that he knows Yumiko wouldn't remember, he simply leaps back into the sky and sails off into the night, presumably back to Hueco Mundo. It's only several seconds later that a stout, black-haired woman in a modified captain's uniform appears before the mob accompanied by several people in a mix of red and black uniforms. The ones in red uniforms wear long hats that obscure their faces completely.

"It's gone." she calmly tells one red-suited man standing next to her. She whispers a few words to him and then orders him to leave. She approaches the peasants who put their improvised weapons down in fear of what her uniform represents. She doesn't speak to them, but rather to another person standing next to her – this time in a skin-tight black suit – some command that leads the majority of the excess troops to leave while a few stay behind. The remarkably serious-looking captain stares into the crowd for a few long seconds and easily picks out the gap amongst them. She makes a hand signal at the location, causing several of the black-suited individuals to forcefully clear a path through the masses. She waltzes right on through as if it's entirely her business, meeting the sight of a thoroughly beaten down Yumiko who has been somehow holding onto her sword tightly this entire time. She's completely unable to move, but has the strength left to scowl at the captain for no other reason than to express her resentment.

After a few moments of examination, the captain leaves her be, but tells one of the black-suited people on her way out, "I want her name included in the investigation report." They give a short but respectful bow in confirmation, then she takes her leave. The black-suited people leave the crowd and all line up in front of them. One among the group announces, "Starting tonight, all witnesses to the event that just occured will be detained and brought in for questioning! Answer truthfully and promptly! All injured civilians will be treated by 4th Division medics courtesy of the 2nd Division and will also be questioned! Please line up now in an orderly fashion!"

The crowd does as they say, gathering into a messy line and waiting for what will happen next. They all whisper about each other worriedly, and a few stragglers even refuse to leave Yumiko's side until the medics arrive. The rest of night consisted of various other cloaked people cleaning up the mess that the battle made and dozens of medics arriving on-scene only to be disappointed with the lack of injured people and surplus of definitely dead people.

* * *

The next morning, Yumiko barely manages to open her eyes in the midst of still being patched up by a meek girl from the 4th Division. She doesn't make much of a budge besides that, mostly out of shock from what happened the night before. She looks around the room a bit, noticing that her sword is thankfully at her bedside. The building around isn't a hospital or barracks of any kind, but rather some beaten-down, repurposed house that her and the other injured are recovering in.

Someone happens to come in just a few moments later, addressing the girl next to Yumiko. "Yes, she's awake now. Go on, then." she answers him.

The man sits down by Yumiko in a noticably uncomfortable wooden chair and pulls out a clipboard and pen. Yumiko's vision is still slightly blurred, but she can make out various horns, aquatic features, and other oddities covering the man as well as his girth. His uniform is mostly white and long unlike a typical shinigami's. His voice is also surprisingly deep when he asks, "So you're feeling much better, now? I expect that much from my little Asane!" he makes a small chuckle, as does the girl who now stands behind him.

"More or le–" Yumiko begins to answer, but suddenly has a violent coughing fit. She recovers after a moment of the apparent Asane looking concerned, "Except that..."

"Hmmm..." the mutant-like man groans "You can call me Gokuro. I'm just here to ask a few questions if you don't mind." He sounds lax, but also quizzical.

"Sure. Maybe I'll have a few, too." she agrees as she leans back onto an extremely thin pillow.

"Ah, good. Question 1: Where were you during last night's attack?" He brings his clipboard close to his face and begins the interrogation.

Yumiko sighs with a slight hint of anger, "Just getting my ass kicked by some freak of a hollow."

"Oh? And how many were there?" he adds.

"Three. Two grunts and one big guy. I killed the two grunts."

"Killed them? With that sword, I suppose." he says to himself, but speaks back up "Anything you can tell me about the big one?"

She simply gives a description, "He was big, black, had razor-sharp claws, long arms and legs, long neck, really simple mask, and a bunch of big wings."

"And how strong do you suppose he was?" Gokuro questions further.

Yumiko gives a tired smirk, "Very. It felt like I was getting crushed just by being near him. Then he was so fast that I could barely keep up. Then he killed like, 20 people in one swipe."

"Oh dear." he remarks.

"Everyone would say that." she claims.

"Oh, no, that was genuine. This raises some very bad alarms. So what of this mask you mentioned?" he clarifies, then asks.

"It wasn't much," Yumiko claims "just kind of shaped like a blank head with two big eye holes where they should be. They didn't look right, like they were too far apart but also too close together."

"Certainly seems simple for a hollow. Right, so how much contact did you have with it?" He continues to jot down the details of what she had said while asking.

"I fought it. It won." She manages to give a lenient chuckle on top of the frankness.

"Well, the injuries were quite severe from what I heard. One more minute and you might've not made it!" He also tries to laugh at his dark joke, but it quickly turns awkward and quiet. Yumiko's smirk also fades. "So what kind of power did it hold?"

Yumiko raises her hand far above her face and starts counting on her fingers as she lists, "Well, it could fly, had long reach, could cut things in two without effort, it was physically strong, and...oh, it was somehow really, really fast. Like, it could teleport and everything!"

Gokuro suddenly stands up from his chair in utter shock and yells, "Teleport!?" Everyone goes silent; he awkwardly sits down and speaks more quietly with the girl nearby: Asane, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Shunpo?" she guesses in her very squeaky voice.

"Precisely!" Gokuro almost yells again as he raises his finger.

"But hollows can't use Shunpo!" Asane argues.

"That's why this is so thrilling! If hollows can use Shunpo or even just teleport, imagine what we have left to learn about them!" Gokuro sounds very excited.

Meanwhile, Yumiko's vision is less blurry, to the point that she can make out the back of Gokuro's uniform: the number "12" in Japanese. Just to make sure she's making that out correctly, she calls out to him, "Hey, where do you work?"

Gokuro stops and turns around, looking skeptical despite answering moments later, "Research and Development, 12th Division." It takes him a moment to recognize the sour look that just befell her; he comments on it, "You don't like the 13 Divisions, do you? A lot of the Rukongai peasants don't."

Yumiko nods, still giving him a new glare. "Continue." she demands, now a little more scornfully than before. Asane seems to be feeling the new tension, as she visibly freezes up.

"Ah, right! I think we're almost done." He sits back down and continues with one of his last important questions, "This one is specifically for you. What is the origin of that Zanpakuto?"

Yumiko flinches and grits her teeth at him on the last word. "Zanpakuto?"

Gokuro sits back for a long explanation, "Yes, that thing is clearly a Zanpakuto. It's very curious for someone who hasn't entered the academy to possess one, much less own it. Most souls have to use an Asauchi, but you seem to actually have a matured Zanpakuto. Has it spoken to you at all?"

Yumiko hesitates to answer, but a minute or two of staring daggers at each other makes her relent at least a little, "I just found it in my home one day. Then I picked it up and started hearing this voice in my head."

Gokuro edges more closely, "And what did it say?"

"'You looked lonely.'"

The two aren't staring into each other's eyes anymore, they're staring into each other's very souls, both with the intent to harm. It goes on for a solid few minutes until Gokuro gives up with a tired, "Heh, you win. I'm not the best at intimidating people, anyways." He prepares to rise from his chair, deciding to end that tangent with a compliment, "You look like the type who has a lot of resolve."

He's about to leave, but stops before he can take one too many steps and turns back around, "Ah, I almost forgot the last question: What is your name?"

Yumiko closes her eyes, breathes deeply, then answers, "Everyone calls me Yumiko Nishimura-koken. My friends know me by a different name."

"Hm?" he interrogates further.

"Nobody still knows that name." she solemnly admits.

Gokuro turns back around and jots the answer down, "I see. Sorry to hear that. Nishimura-koken, eh? The folks around here must respect you with a title like that."

"You could say that. I wouldn't call the trust well-placed, but it gets me free food and a place to stay." Yumiko looks much more lax now, but also a bit down.

"Food? Heh, you would make an excellent shinigami." he claims. "Oh, you know what? How about you go there two days from now and just linger about outside until someone comes for you?" Gokuro suggests.

Yumiko raises an eyebrow, but agrees for lack of a better plan, "Alright, we'll see what happens."

Gokuro smirks, then leaves without another word. Meanwhile, Asane sits back down next to her and hands over a clipboard and pen similar to the one Gokuro was using. "Here, it's just basic patient info." Yumiko takes it and starts to run through it half-heartedly.

"4th Division?" Yumiko asks.

"Correct. We're like...medics. The whole division is dedicated to treating injured people and building hospitals." Asane explains.

Yumiko nods and the silence continues for another minute. After finishing the paper, Asane takes it and prepares to leave by herself, but gives a passing inquiry, "So you're going to try being a shinigami?"

Yumiko looks to the side and closes her eyes halfway, "Maybe. If it'll help me get stronger...so maybe I can beat something like that."

Asane suddenly seems happier, "Great! I'll see you later, then. Yumiko?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, see you later, Yumiko!" Asane waves at her as she leaves, but is stopped just moments before.

Yumiko managed to stop her with simply, "Actually, you can go ahead and call me Chiyo."

Asane looks inquisitively back at Yumiko, who is now giving a faint smile. Asane returns it and jogs down the hallway outside the room.

Yumiko stares up at the ceiling and loses her smile. She reaches up towards the ceiling to see that her vision is now almost back to normal. Given the time she has to rest, she decides to think on the decision, _"Become what I hate, huh? Oh well, maybe it won't be absolutely terrible. Yeah, I'll do it."_

* * *

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**


	2. Act 0 CH2: The Diligent

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 2:**

 **THE DILIGENT**

As promised, Yumiko begins her journey to the Shinigami Academy just the day after Gokuro and Asane visited her and offered the opportunity. As word began to spread around the neighborhood that she had been packing her belongings to leave, the people became restless and rumors began rising as fast as mercury in a volcano. Crazy things, like that she was going on a pilgrimage to a temple on a mountain summit, that she was travelling deep into the woods in search of various mystical beasts and objects, that she was moving to another district, that she was going to chase after the hollow that attacked them all, and even that she was going to go slay an evil dragon for some reason. Whatever they believed, most of the people were concerned about losing their regional hero.

She avoided them for a time, but eventually had to address the issue when they all ganged up outside her house as she was about to leave. It had to be nearly 50 people all in a crowd around her home.

"I was _afraid_ this would happen." she facetiously remarks to them all. "Don't worry, guys, I'm not going on any suicide mission again."

They're not buying it. The crowd generally looks unconvinced and somewhat concerned. Yumiko explains, arms outstretched to make it seem like a big effort, "Alright, I'll say it: I'm going to the Shinigami Academy!"

"Today!?" one man yells from the crowd. They all start rabbling.

"Yes, today!" Yumiko confirms. However, she soon realizes that they've become not less but even more concerned that the premonitions of leaving are true. She tries to quell them, "But listen, I **will** come back! Mark my words, you all won't be without me forever if I can help it!"

The crowd looks more appeased, but still isn't dispersing as she would prefer. A woman from the crowd steps to the front and yells, "But what will we do without you?" The crowd rabbles in agreement, during which one man yells, "They'll kill us all!"

"Calm down, calm down!" Yumiko yells over them; they quiet down mostly. She decides that it's time for a motivational speech, "You don't need me to protect you, ya know! Remember that giant hollow the other night? Remember how I got my ass kicked and you all came and saved me? That was all you! You all warded off that thing and I barely got out alive! If that's not strength and bravery, I don't know what is. Do any of you remember those stories about heroes who would go out and destroy evil all by themselves? Well that's all a load of crap! History was made by those heroes you hear so much about, it was made by masses of hard workers like you all! It wouldn't be one general who destroyed an army, it would be his army; his hundreds of men who fight to the death for the safety of their homes: that is **you!** So don't give me crap about being the hero that can't leave or the leader that everyone relies on, because I've seen first hand what you can do! You don't need me; I'm just your general, I only led you! Maybe one day I'll come back and be one of those legendary heroes adored by thousands, but if you let me leave here and now, I will surely remember each and every one of you for your own willpowers! Now, what do you say to that!?"

After finishing that generally long speech, she spends the next few silent moments mentally patting herself on the back and waiting for the response. To her joy, the crowd slowly begins clapping until it breaks into full applause for a few moments. The applause soon turns into cheering, and that soon turns into fervor. The people around her seem to be smiling, and she smiles back for once.

A large, heavyset man – the area's steelsmith – wades his way through one portion of the crowd to Yumiko's left and emerges while yelling, "Nishimura-koken! We'll do you proud; I'll even forge an army's worth of weapons, and when you come back I'll make you the greatest gift we can think of!"

Another grown man emerges – this one still buff but more slender – from the same end and announces, "And I'll train the folk with whatever we can get!"

The woman from earlier speaks up again, "And I'll command them all!" A mixed few others announce that they'll command as well. The crowd is getting pumped at the thought of being an army that can take on any odds, but they don't forget their hero. People begin to group up around each other, but many also gather closely around Yumiko and begin offering help.

"I'll get you some food to take with you!" one says. "I have a few changes of clothes you can have!" says another. "We can go get you some more arrows and another bow!" one adds. The offers keep coming, but Yumiko acts too humbly to accept them.

"Now, now, keep them to yourselves! You'll need them more than I." she tells them all. However, they keep insisting until she's forced to take the charity, ending her with a little too much preparation.

Just a couple hours later and the people of the neighborhood are hard at work, forging the future with the fires of their newly acquired determination before it withers away. Meanwhile, Yumiko is hauling a huge backpack of crap, plus her bow, quiver, and Zanpakuto all at once down one of the major streets of District 32. A few people are helping her get everything strapped in before moving out, and an even bigger crowd than the one from just a couple hours ago has formed just behind her.

She looks behind her at the generous crowd waiting for her to say goodbye. She gives them all a warm smile, then waves off with a loud "Goodbye!".

The crowd waves back and they yell, "Farewell!" in unison.

"I'll see you all again some day!" she replies, ending the sequence by walking off all cool-like into the darkening sky of the evening, east towards the Shinigami Academy!

* * *

The trek was long, yet also surprisingly short. It took her until morning of the next day to finally find the academy, but it also took as long as that morning, before which she would not be able to sleep lest she be late. Finally, she arrives at a slightly better-looking building than the ones surrounding it, which is actually saying something when you consider that it's in the 1st District. It also isn't specifically the academy, but instead an "Entrance Center" as the sign in front says.

As Yumiko expected to see, both Asane and Gokuro are sitting in a bench near the front entrance with a few Rukongai peasants who appear to be waiting for their turn to try out. The two rise at the sight of her and wave, beckoning her closer. As Yumiko comes closer, Gokuro comments, "So you kept your word; we were thinking you wouldn't show up!"

This earns him a smack in the chest from the recipient, who appears to barely feel it through his thick skin.

"Aha! Now that we're all here, how about I give you the run-down on what to do?" Gokuro begins.

Yumiko nods, "Right. I think I'll do fine, but let's show off a little, anyways."

Gokuro swings his hands into the air in front of him, then shakes his head, "Oh, no, we won't actually be doing anything. I was just going to tell you what to expect!"

Yumiko groans, looking mildly but visibly disappointed. "Fine, go ahead." she dismissively concedes.

"Good. Let's begin!" Gokuro commands, then starts with the courses she'll be undertaking. "So the entrance exam isn't actually very complicated. They'll be testing you on your skill and talent with Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido. You're not expected to know how to perform Shunpo effectively or recite high-level Kido, but they will at least expect you to be a quick learner."

Yumiko interrupts with a question, "Will they provide immediate knowledge of Kido if I don't know any? Not that I don't."

Gokuro is taken off-guard, but answers promptly, "Well, I'm not exactly sure. They didn't when I signed up about 90 years ago, but things have probably changed since then. They should at least have the first few spells of both major disciplines."

He's lost track of what he was saying, but manages to get back to it in a few moments, "Ah, right. They'll test you with both a written exam that should only take a few minutes for each test, and then a practice test where you display your knowledge. Given your ownership of that Zanpakuto and status, I expect you'll pass the Zanjutsu and Hakuda exams with flying colors."

Yumiko interrupts again, "Do I need to pass all of the tests?"

"No, but you fail if more than two of your tests are failed or pass with low marks. Don't worry, you can try again as many times as you like if you fail."

"And what exactly is Hoho?"

"The art of movement. This commonly includes dodging, footwork, athleticism, and the technique of Shunpo. Just stuff you do with your feet and speed."

"Oh, that's good. Are there any tests for archery?" Yumiko lifts up her bow for emphasis.

"I don't believe so." Gokuro unfortunately mentions "Not many shinigami use bows or any ranged weapons for that matter. You could mention it as an additional talent if you think it would give you a better chance, but I doubt it."

"Damn. Is that it, then?" she asks.

"Not quite. There's a procedure when you get in, you see. When you go in, you should line up or group up where everyone else is and wait. If there is no line or group, just wait until you hear somebody supposedly important speaking. Generally just follow what everyone else is doing if you can't figure it out. Do that and you shouldn't stick out like a lost cockatiel."

Yumiko tilts her head slightly, "Cockatiel...?"

Gokuro hastily dismisses her, "Er, never mind! So tell me, do you know any Kido? I might have the time to hand you one or two low-level spells."

"Well, I know one called Sai and one called Byakurai." Yumiko rubs the back of her head, trying to remember the two.

"Ah, Bakudo #1 and Hado #4. Useful spells, but very weak. Do you have a greater interest in one or the other?"

"Well, I am fond of Sai. It's also kind of fun to paralyze things. Makes it easier to shoot them."

"Bakudo, then. I believe Asane knows one that could suit you." Gokuro steps back and lets Asane take his spot. Yumiko doesn't say a word in response.

Asane timidly speaks up, her voice still being very squeaky, "So Bakudo? Well, I'm just a medic, but I do know a few of them. There's one I use sometimes when a patient is being really difficult; would you like to know that one?"

"I guess? I'm sure it'll be useful regardless."

"Wonderful! This one is the Bakudo #10: Toketsu Reikon. It works like this: To this spell, there are 16 focal points in the human body, one for each limb or bending point. By using the spell, you can paralyze these points individually or in a group. When paralyzed, the joints can't flex at all, making everything dependent on it nearly useless. It doesn't work on really strong people, but it should be enough for everyday battles or if you're me and have to force people into bed!"

The two laugh a bit at that remark, Yumiko nearly faking hers out of concern for the reason behind it. Asane continues, "Now to use it, you recite this incantation – repeat after me: Chain of the soul and body..."

Yumiko repeats quietly. They both place their hands together and put their heads down in a praying stance.

"...Severing of heart and mind. Bring that which is to be forsaken, its fate; tranquility in the realms of Samsara. Come in the dawn and break in the dusk, wayward strike into Man – Bakudo #10: Toketsu Reikon!"

Asane then accidentally casts the spell directly on Yumiko, who feels a sudden jolt in her knees before collapsing onto them and then onto her face in mere moments. Asane jumps back and starts frantically apologizing, "Oh, oh, sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to actually use it! I just got a little into it, you know? I'm so sorry, I could help myself! Pl–"

Yumiko interrupts her, "It's okay, quit yapping already! Just...undo whatever you did and it'll be fine."

It's hard not to laugh – which Gokuro finds himself doing – with her face in the dirt like that. Nevertheless, Asane keeps her propriety and kneels down to undo the spell, which takes only a minute. During that time, she takes to memorizing the words in the incantation. Asane finishes just in time for the entrants inside to start huddling back out as their exams have finished. Yumiko attempts to hop right up to get in first, but is stopped by her legs still being annoyingly numb.

"No, no, don't get up yet!" Asane warns her "At least wait until the feeling comes back."

"Bah!" Yumiko scoffs, still attempting to stand, but ending up looking like both her legs are broken. She proceeds to start shuffling towards the doorway in what is possibly the most awkward, embarrassing fashion of walking a person could ever perform: both thighs slightly spread but straight as usual while the rest of the legs are lagging behind and spread so appallingly that it makes her look like the outline of a test tube. The feet will hardly even lift off the ground and just drag around like two massive, iron weights. She essentially has to pick up her legs and throw them forwards when they refuse to move, and otherwise look like someone who's been putting using the bathroom off for a while.

Despite that astonishing display of either willpower or social apathy (possibly both), Yumiko manages to make her way to the doorway in time for the feeling to come back to her legs. The crowd coming out is small, so she isn't bogged down by numerous people flooding out. When she stumbles in, the only thing there to greet her is a spacious, dimly-lit, single-room interior with merely two adults standing in the center of what resembles a Dojo practice floor complete with bamboo weapons on racks and one or two decorative weapons on the high walls to make the place seem less poor.

The two in the center of the floor in the signature black uniform of a shinigami are one male and one female, both looking plain and slightly buff – she more than he. The two are in the middle of a conversation that Yumiko decides not to butt in on. Luckily for her, Gokuro and Asane followed her in to give a proper farewell. She approaches them while people start to slowly trickle into the building, "Hey, so do I just talk to...?"

"I believe so, it's just a small form to sign up with." Gokuro assures her. Asane nods in agreement.

"Anyways, we just wanted to make sure you knew what to do, so good luck." he adds.

Yumiko nods and leans around, "Thanks. I hope it doesn't get too awkward while everyone is standing around and waiting for the tests to start."

"Oh!" Asane suddenly protrudes "They won't like your hair hanging down like that, tie it up!" She excitedly hands Yumiko a black ribbon, but then retracts that and ends up turning her around to tie it up herself – into a simple ponytail. "Sorry, I don't know anything else." she apologizes.

"No need, I can't expect that." Yumiko humbly excuses her. Asane gives a light smile.

"Well, the place'll start filling up soon, so we better get going." Gokuro sighs. "But before we leave, I think we'll also try to meet you at the academy tomorrow. If you make it, that is. And if the captain'll actually let me leave again! Haha!" he starts to get into hysterics, but abruptly stops and beckons Asane to follow him out. The two leave in moments with Yumiko not making another peep, though she still wonders about the relationship between the two.

In her pondering of that subject (which ends up inconclusively), the room has filled up to about 10 to 15 applicants. Yumiko decides she ought to see about that application form or whatever it's called, and so waltzes right up to the two shinigami in the center of the dojo-like room. "I hear there was a form?" she asks in a most serious manner.

The two stop their conversation and look at her, then back at each other. The two look her down for at least half a minute just trying to absorb her appearance. Especially her rare-to-be-seen loose trousers, the prestigiously made 3-toothed geta, the plain hooded tunic, the mere existence of a bow and quiver of arrows, and the very comparatively ornate zanpakuto of hers whose guard is two crescents back-to-back. The rest of her looking plain and minorly disgruntled creates an interesting juxtaposition.

"Huh?" the man asks after finishing his examination; his voice is incredibly deep despite his young look "Oh, right. The forms are sitting on a table in the corner over there." He points to a corner of the room with a very, very tiny table housing a thin stack of hand-sized slips and a few pens. As yumiko walks over there, he announces this fact to the rest of the people. Consequently, the crowd starts lining up behind Yumiko in what is more of a disorganized mob than an actual line.

The slip itself is very simple, consisting only of an empty field for a name, sex, specialty, and description. The description dominates half the slip. Yumiko jots down her full name, including the -koken pseudo-honorific, her specialty as archery, and what of her description she can remember. This proves troublesome from lack of mirror and she ends up just guessing most of it. The back is a section for the recruiters to grade and explicitly says, "DO NOT WRITE HERE".

She finishes with a shrug and slaps the thing face down on the opposite side of the table. The man comes back over there and tells her to take a seat on the floor somewhere. She chooses just beyond the entrance where the dojo-like room starts. The floor is uncomfortable and made mostly out of bamboo. Out of boredom, she begins counting down the seconds to how long it takes everybody to finish and sit.

13 minutes and 24 seconds. A long, boring 13 minutes and 24 seconds. It doesn't help that one ditz in particular took 2 whole minutes because they screwed up not one but two slips. Not only this, but that ditz decides to sit right next to Yumiko. She starts leaning over. Lea~ning uncomfortably close, just staring. Yumiko finally decides that she's annoyed and turns around to scold her, but stops short of it out of minor surprise.

The girl is pale, young-looking, and has a round-ish face that gives her a soft, kind of innocent feel. Her body is thin and frail – like a pencil – but somehow supports rather large D-cups. Her most strikingly coincidental look is her hair of similar dark color to Yumiko and also tied into a similarly long ponytail by a piece of string. The eyes she tries piercing Yumiko with are a deep, clear, almost cerulean blue that could make anybody blush at the sight of. Yumiko can't quite put her finger on it, but this girl seems somehow familiar.

"Hi." she says, startling Yumiko invisibly.

"Hi." she replies. The two stare at each other for a bit, but Yumiko breaks the silence eventually, "So who are you?"

"Kokoro." she replies flatly. It's not particularly excited like Asane is, but has kind of a similar feel to it.

"Yumiko." she gives her own name, the two shake hands. "You know, you can...not get that close."

Kokoro chuckles, "Sorry, sorry, I just can't stop myself!" she claims.

"Right..." Yumiko continues to stare at her inquisitively. "So, district?"

"Um, I think 44." she guesses, legitimately unsure of where she even lives. She starts pondering the answer, eventually just falling silent in thought. How she can think so hard about such a small question is beyond comprehension.

"Um...Kokoro?" Yumiko waves a hand in front of her face.

"Ah! You're that girl from 32, aren't you?" she suddenly yells, making Yumiko jump a little.

"I...believe so? Nishimura-koken." she gives her surname.

"Oh my god, you are! Ooh, can I have your autograph!?" Kokoro bursts out in excitement, leaping up and looking around for something to do the deed with, but failing. "I-I'm sorry, but–"

Yumiko interrupts her, "Sit down, you don't need my autograph. Just stop yelling. How does someone from 44 know me anyways?"

Kokoro sits back down next to her, "I just hear a lot of cool things about you, I guess the stories spread pretty far."

"I'll say. Exactly how popular are those stories?"

"Recently, it's been what all of the kids are hyped about! You're like a regular hero, you know?"

Yumiko's expression suddenly turns sour, "Eh, I'm no hero."

Kokoro almost jumps up again, "But you've beaten over 500 hollows! You've saved tons of people!"

"Now where in the world did you get _that_ number?" Yumiko chuckles at her zeal, but keeps from looking too flattered.

"That's what they say. Isn't it true?" Kokoro starts to look a little upset, possibly let down.

"I honestly don't know. I just do what I do, that's it. I told you; I'm not a hero. Just hate those ugly beasts." Yumiko almost lets out a somewhat aggressive remark against hollows, but relents to keep things from getting too tense.

Kokoro looks quite disappointed, but tries not to lose her smile. She's about to add to her rambling, but the male recruiter announces that it's time to begin the tests before she can. Everyone zips to attention, sitting in Seiza stance. Except for Yumiko, who is entirely intent on being lax and spreading her legs out a little. Thankfully, she's wearing pants.

The recruiters pretend not to notice, and so does everybody else. Regardless, the male begins by announcing, "Now that you've all signed up and it's the end of the hour, we'll be starting immediately. Let's begin with introductions. When I call out your name, stand up."

Yumiko begins to question why the description section was there if they were just going to do this. Regardless, he starts from the right and moves left from the back to the front. Everyone mostly sits quietly and stands as they are called, but Yumiko nearly misses him calling her name due to spacing out. She learns that Kokoro's surname is Tsukuda, but that's the only interesting bit she recalls.

The man speaks up again, "Alright, now that we've got that out of the way, let's start with a written test. Our first subject is Zanjutsu: swordfighting. Everyone space out, we'll hand out the tests."

By the time they hand out everything, everybody's scattered about the room widely. Luckily, they had enough pens to go around. The actual test, meanwhile, is a mere 7 questions long and mostly consists of baseline swordfighting knowledge, including vocabulary. Things like, "What are the two main categories of Zanjutsu?". Everyone is finished in just a few minutes and Yumiko finds it incredibly easy.

They take up the tests and proceed with the obviously much more important observative test. Everyone retakes their previous seats and waits to be called on, after which they fight not the male recruiter, but the female. She's a weird type of tall, plain-looking butch.

When Yumiko is called on (as the 3rd person, too) they add to put down her other weapons and use a training sword. Yumiko marches up to the center of the room, opposite to the woman, grabbing a stick on the way and finally taking a rather lax and offhanded stance with it at her side rather than up. Her other weapons are left next to Kokoro.

"What, you think you're too tough for a proper stance?" the shinigami taunts. Yumiko doesn't respond; she just stands around and waits for her to make a move. "What's the matter? Don't tell me–"

"You should keep your taunting to a minimum." Yumiko blurts out, spinning the training sword in her hand.

The woman takes offense to this and runs ahead with the opening attack: a flourish that feints into a right-diagonal downward hack! Yumiko is unimpressed. While the woman is busy flourishing for the feint, Yumiko harshly taps her foreleg and strafes to her right. The woman attempts to track, but can't keep up with how fast Yumiko strafes. By the time she turns all the way around, Yumiko is distanced on the other side of the room by now, waving the stick around and waiting for the next attack.

"If you were anywhere as good as you should be, I wouldn't be able to do that." Yumiko claims, further enraging the woman.

"It's on." The woman brings the stick up to eye level and points it at Yumiko, lunging forward in less than a second with a stab and light swing leftward combined. Yumiko simply swats it in midair with her own stick moments before it can hit her in the side of the head. She forces herself to grin, "That's a little better."

She parries the now lingering sword and strafes to her right, lifting the sword near her face and holding it firmly. They start circling around each other with sticks raised, when Yumiko suddenly throws her Geta off and makes the woman panic. She throws out a light right-upward diagonal that gets blocked easily. Yumiko slides her stick up the woman's up to the guard; she tries to lift it back up but is too slow and ends up with a foot directly in her gut. Yumiko kicks her with immense strength and knocks her back into the wall with enough spare time to sunder her opponent's stick. The disarm fails, but she still manages to tap the woman's waist and hand.

"I'm gonna–" the woman begins, but is interrupted.

"Nothing. You won't do anything. You don't know how to beat me, face it." Yumiko nearly yells at her. She doesn't make any cocky face, doesn't even smile. Just stares daggers at her. Kokoro suddenly jumps up and cheers for Yumiko and how awesome she just looked. This distracts the woman long enough for Yumiko to land a jab in the forehead. The others start laughing, but Yumiko scolds her, "You got distracted. That would've killed you if this were a real battle."

"If this were a real ba–" the woman gets interrupted again, this time by the male instructor.

"I think that's enough. Nishimura has clearly shown her skill. Let's move on." He's been sitting at the table the entire time and grading the performance.

Yumiko throws the stick down and slips back into her geta, then takes her seat again while murmuring, "Damn shinigami..." It's quiet enough for plenty of people to hear this, but nobody says anything. Kokoro congratulates her and gives her a fairly inappropriate hug out of sheer excitement. However, she's next, and she'll surely be punished for distracting the instructor woman.

To everyone's surprise, however (including Kokoro's), she actually manages to either be a decently skilled or decently lucky combatant. She manages to only take a single tap on the shoulder, then retaliates with a flurry of attacks that resulting 3 consecutive hits all over the place. She definitely seems the type that's better at offense than defense. The fight ends with the two instructors being quite pleasantly surprised, especially by the end. Everyone that went seemed to be at least better than the crowd before just from the general looks they were all getting. Next, however, was the Kido test.

Practically everybody failed the written Kido test, unbeknownst to them. The highest scorer was actually Kokoro, who was actually above-average. Of course, the actual action test was quite different. Every potential student was barely able to get off low-level kido without trouble, especially bakudo, which were used against the male recruiter himself. Funnily, he was the kido expert of the two. Kokoro, despite knowing quite a bit about Kido, had never actually used it and performed very clumsily. Her attempt at using Hado shot a ball of reishi through the roof of the building instead of into the absorptive target.

When Yumiko's turn came up, she decided that then would be a good time to try out the bakudo she _just learned._ When called upon and told to perform the highest level of spell she knew, she turned her head down and concentrated on attempting to invision him as the points of his body that the spell targets. After getting a good vision in her mind and beginning to conjure up the power to use the spell, she spoke, "Chain of the soul and body, severing of the heart and mind. Bring that which is to be forsaken, its fate; tranquility in the realms of Samsara. Come in the dawn and break in the dusk, wayward strike into Man..." She suddenly whips her arms up and focuses directly on his knees, snapping her fingers while yelling, "Bakudo #10, Toketsu Reikon!"

The man braces himself, then finds himself unknowing of what just transpired until a harsh numbness hits his knees and he's forced to fall onto them, then face-first into the floor while his legs fail him. Despite how painful having your face slammed into the floor is, he still manages a smirk and a thumbs up of approval, much in the same attitude of impressed-ness to the other initiates, who can do nothing but gasp. Yumiko is also surprised at the mere fact that she could pull that off on the first try. Then again, it was a low-level spell. As expected, the man is easily able to break out of the spell with sheer force in just a few long seconds. Her Hado test went much like the others with the use of only the fourth that has little or no impressiveness behind it, though most of the others could only perform the first. The only one of them who could use actual kido balls was Kokoro.

Next was the Hakuda test. Unlike the Zanjutsu test, everybody did fairly well on it and most likely passed despite still not being a match for the female recruiter. As expected, Yumiko managed to trip her up at least. Otherwise, it was uneventful.

The final test was Hoho, which tested the speed/maneuverability of an initiate and their potential for Shunpo. Needless to say, nobody could use it right off the bat and merely needed to display their agility in combat situations and running speed. Yumiko and a couple others were the only ones who had the honed senses needed to actually avoid blows. However, Kokoro and Yumiko both tied in running speed.

* * *

After that last test, everyone was merely dismissed and told to wait for the results tomorrow. Nothing more, just a quick "Now get out of my building" approach. The entire ordeal was an exhausting 3 hours in total. Afterwards and outside, Kokoro catches up with Yumiko just before she starts leaping away and offers, "Hey, I know a place we can stay for the night. Want to come along?"

Yumiko accepted. She was led about about 10 minutes away to some old man's Sake brewery. She was somewhat skeptical from the look, but that was washed away when the man greeted Kokoro with a friendly smile as if they were already good friends. Yumiko questions her on this when they get in, "You two know each other?"

She turns around with a gleaming smile, "Yeah! He's been letting me stay here for the past couple years!"

Yumiko freezes in place, "Y-Years!?"

"Yeah, I've been trying to pass this stupid test for that long but kept failing. I was just about to give up..." She stops, herself, and faces Yumiko completely "...but then you showed up and it made me more confident than ever, somehow!"

Yumiko stands there silently with a stupidly small, compassionate grin that very slowly widens while the rest of her expression relaxes considerably. She sighs and continues to follow Kokoro into a back room with 4 cots and a somewhat dim built-in light fixture in the ceiling. It isn't even very dirty as one would expect; the walls are a pleasingly sterile white and the cots look like they've never been used.

Kokoro presents the room to her immediately, "Well, here we are! Better than bedrolls, right?"

Yumiko takes a short time to stare at the beds, "I hope. It's still daylight, though."

Kokoro whips her head to the side and makes a quizzical expression as if to question her seriousness, "Eh? I think we've worked hard enough; I'm really tired! Oh, but you're in better shape than me."

Yumiko raises one eyebrow and puts a hand on her hip, "I guess. Well, I can go 'n' see if I can get you some sort of snack."

"Oh!" Kokoro suddenly jumps at the thought "In that case, I want Dango! Lots of it!"

"Right. I guess I'll be back in a little while – don't leave." Yumiko begins to walk away.

"Wait!" Kokoro yells, stopping Yumiko in her tracks "It's dangerous to go alone, take this!" She hands Yumiko about 8 100-yen coins. And a rock.

Yumiko stares at the rock. "What is this...?"

"They'll know what it means." Kokoro insists as she pretends to stealthily slip into the shadows, turning of the lights for dramatic effect.

Yumiko returns later with 8 skewers of 3 multi-colored Dango each, yelling for Kokoro to come get it. Actually, they're all orange. "Hey, Kokoro! Is this what the rock was for!?"

Kokoro leaps up from one of the beds and asks, "What?" while taking half of them.

"They're all orange." Yumiko bluntly states. "Also, is the other half for me?"

"Yep and yep!" Kokoro cheerily yells, bouncing into one of the beds. Yumiko still can't help but notice how ragged and plain her clothes are for someone with this type of attitude.

"Eh, they can't all be pessimists." she guesses aloud.

"Hm?" Kokoro hums with her mouth stuffed with food, lying on the bed with an arm behind her back.

Yumiko lies down across from her in a similar manner, "Nothing, just talking to...myself. " She hesitates on the last bit.

The next morning, Yumiko is suddenly awoken by Kokoro shaking the fuck out of her and yelling, "Wake up, they announced the the new students!" and some other unintelligible things. Yumiko's eyes shoot open with alarming suddenness. Kokoro steps back and waits for Yumiko to rise, then immediately sprints out the door and beckons her to follow. Yumiko lazily and slightly grumpily gets up only to realize that she fell asleep with Dango all over her face and still wearing her sword.

A quick cleanup and about 10 more minutes later, she and Kokoro arrive at the board posted that morning by the recruiting hall. Dozens of people are gather around it, but most are dispersing disappointedly. Understandable from how short the list actually is: only about 23 names. The two start searching for their names, which Yumiko easily finds.

"Oh, that's good." she sighs, but then looks over at Kokoro who seems to be looking over the list with increasing nervousness.

"Um..." she hesitates and starts to tear up "...I-I don't think I can see it on here."

Yumiko hums and starts to look over it for her name. She finds it easily as well and questions her, "Did you look in the 'T' section?"

Kokoro suddenly blushes at the realization, "No..." She slowly turns towards Yumiko, "Did you...? Did I...?"

Yumiko just gives her a reaffirming smile while pointing at her name. Kokoro slowly transitions into a massive, open-mouth smile as she gets more and more excited. She starts to cry anyways, but out of happiness instead of hopelessness. At the same time, she jumps Yumiko with a big hug, "Nishimura-koken, thank you! Thank you so much!"

As Kokoro cries and thanks her repeatedly, Yumiko hugs her back and doesn't even bother with asking why she's thanking her. She stays silent almost totally. That is, until Kokoro suddenly asks, "Hey, can I...stay with you? I mean, can we be friends?"

Yumiko is slightly offput by the proposition's magnitude and it coming so early, but she eventually shakes the doubt off, "Ah, what the hell?" She gives an affirmative squeeze to her new friend, and they relish in the fresh yet familiar feeling...

* * *

 _ **With the first obstacle to greatness passed, Yumiko flies into the broad of day towards her goals and enemies to challenge each and every one! With her newest friend Kokoro by her side, her vigor of confidence will be renewed and a saga begun!**_

 _ **Next time on Bleach - Nikushimi no Ya: The Scholar! Can the two survive the six years of Shin'o Academy!?**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**


	3. Act 0 CH3: The Scholar

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 3:**

 **THE SCHOLAR**

"I always liked red." Yumiko ponders aloud, strutting about the halls of Shin'o Academy in the red-and-white uniform standard for females there. Her hair is still tied up with that ribbon.

"It looks good on you! Kind of." Kokoro compliments her, the two walking in unison beside each other, wearing the same outfit.

"I look better in black, but it's kind of a dull color."

Kokoro chuckles, "You kind of look like a shrine maiden!"

"Eh..." Yumiko doesn't look pleased by this revelation.

"Cheer up! You've looked so out of it since this morning." Kokoro nudges Yumiko with her elbow. A grunt is the only response. "Oh," she remembers suddenly "What class did you get into?"

"Um..." Yumiko stops for a moment and pulls out a piece of paper with her credentials on it "Class 2. Oh, and it has a note on here that says 'Report to Class 1 for Zanjutsu'. I guess they think highly of me."

"Oh..." Kanako solemnly moans.

"What's wrong?" Yumiko stops to ask.

"Well, it's just that I was hoping we could be in the same class, but I understand." She hangs her head down in a slight droop.

Yumiko sighs and thinks to herself, _"Ah, dammit, don't get all depressed."_

"But hey, at least..." Kokoro starts to turn around and lift her head up dramatically, then she suddenly throws her head up and holds up her own credentials "...I got us the same dorm roo~m!" She throws in a sing-songy voice, a cheeky grin, and a thumbs up.

Yumiko raises one eyebrow and returns with her now apparently trademarked peaceful smirk, "Well now, how'd you do that?"

"Oh, I~ have my ways." Kokoro teases. They continue walking down the hall towards the main classrooms.

"So what class are you in?" Yumiko asks a bit later down.

Kokoro groans, fumbles with her papers, and scans it for a moment, "Um...3. You're just—"

"Stop." Yumiko interrupts. "No flattery, just take it easy."

Kokoro quickly changes the subject, "Oh. Hey, you said something about a guy who was going to visit you, where is he?"

"Don't know. Maybe he couldn't get off work." Yumiko guesses casually.

They turn at the end of the hall the just then and spy the series of classrooms they were looking for, all labelled neatly and clearly.

"Right. I guess this is where we split up for now?" Yumiko seems almost disappointed.

Kokoro sounds the same, but jumps up in the end, "Yeah...well, see you later!" She runs off into the distance while Yumiko just stands there and watches.

Yumiko quietly sighs, losing her smile and strolling casually along the hall towards the nearby Class 1: Special Accelerated Class. She takes another look at her schedule to confirm that she should go there first; correct. She nearly kicks the door to the classroom in before realizing that it's a sliding door, then instead slams it open.

Inside is a rather large crowd of students that were at one point rabbling amongst each other in absence of the teacher, but now they turn their collective heads to her, staring. And staring.

She takes her seat at the first empty seat in the front rows. Convenient since everyone's standing. The people quickly lose interest and no one bothers conversing with her, so she just takes a look around the room and waits.

The building so far has been very sterile in color with most bleached colors of white, yellow, green, and red. The classroom in particular has its walls totally whitewashed with no more than yellow beams to break it up. The desks are wide, white slabs with chairs pulled in and close together — there are at least 5 of those on each side with a walkway down the middle. It ends up being fairly crowded by design and actually fairly bland.

For at least half an hour, Yumiko waited in utter boredom and silence for any semblence of a teacher to come and shut up the masses of students; at least, that's what she thought until the antisocial tendencies took a backseat. In time, their teacher appeared to quell the others: Gengoro Onabara. He's a very tall and imposing man with a shiny head and not-so-shiny glasses who always looks somewhat serious. He gives out his welcome speech to everybody, but Yumiko is spacing out and doesn't listen.

Gengoro eventually does role call and gets to everybody except her, which tips him off. "Excuse me, miss?" he calls out to her, popping her out of her bubble "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Instead of speaking, she just hands him her credentials and schedule. "Oh, that—" He stops at noticing her current place, then yells, "But Zanjutsu Combat is a 4th year class! This has to be a mistake!"

Yumiko stares daggers at him, which is actually surprisingly effective at making him back down. "Well, if that's the case. I'll speak with the high-ups about this, but I guess you can go practice with them in the meantime. The rest of this class will be for 1st years, so go ahead and get to the training grounds. It's already late in the morning, so the 4th years should be setting up." Yumiko sighs at having just wasted her time waiting to hear that, but she complies and leaves with many eyes still glued to her.

* * *

The walk is, let's just say, exhausting. Practically a stroll halfway across the entire academy grounds just to get to this one room that is...frankly beige. There are at least 20 people sitting on the sidelines all watching 2 guys going at each other with bamboo swords, both looking somewhat impressive. The instructor doesn't seem to be anywhere in plain sight, giving a bad first impression.

As soon as she steps into plain view, Yumiko is glared at by the other students who all look like potential thugs. She gives them a simple wave and fetches a bamboo sword of her own from a stack near the wall, then takes a seat to watch the two men fighting. Everyone is quiet, but she knows what they're thinking, _"I can't believe a 1_ _st_ _year is in here!"_

 _"She's so short, she'll never make it!"_

 _"Where the hell did this chick come from?"_

Yumiko monologues internall with resentment, _"I bet you're all really smug, right? I hate these people_ _ **so much!**_ _"_ She continues her unreasonable tirade with repeated assumptions on these strangers until suddenly, about 5 minutes later, someone taps her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you're up, new girl." he tells her as one other guy about the same height as her with the same bland, faceless look as everybody else. In fact, he doesn't even have a face! He's just another opposer that nobody can stand, right?

Right in the middle of thought, Yumiko is caught slightly off guard with his diagonal attack. "Sloppy." she nonetheless remarks as she parries it to go over her head. She follows up with a quick horizontal strike followed by flicking wrist into a fist and charging him with it!

The other students gasp and cry out, "Hey, no punching! This is swords only!"

Yumiko flips them the bird and flourishes her blade, "Hey, get up! You're already dead if you're on the floor that long."

"Take it easy!" he begs while sitting up.

Yumiko rushes forward and nearly jabs the bamboo sword into his throat, "Like hell I'll just take it easy on you! You think anyone else will? **Sloth!** "

The faceless boy retaliates, nearly scoring a strike on her neck with a surprisingly fast swipe. She manages to backstep in time but can actually be seen smirking. "That's it..." she whispers.

The young man charges at her with his sword raised above his head, prepared for Kendo; he feigns a vertical strike, but Yumiko takes the offensive and counterattacks to call his bluff! He stops short of getting hit and lowers his sword to a defensive stance. Yumiko sidesteps away from him and holds her own sword to the side in a more passive-aggressive manner. She begins faking him out repeatedly with false charges that stop right before following through, making the young man paranoid to the point that he eventually gets tired of the sword weighing his arms down and decides to attack with a jab.

"Wrong!" Yumiko calls him out, bashing his sword to the side with little required effort and scoring an upwards slash that sends him reeling backwards! He begins another plan, but she immediatel stops him, "In a real situation, that attack would have killed you. That mistake you just made was playing defensively for too long and falling for repeated tricks. The fight's over, you lost. Next!"

He gets somewhat angry about this and attacks her anyways, resulting in Yumiko simply grabbing his "weapon" and snapping it almost in half! She turns around and scowls, having to actively refrain from slapping him across the face. He finally backs off.

One by one, they all head down to the floor and have a round with her, each except a few failing, and those didn't merely drawing. While they were lost in the moment, the instructor for this specific class actually showed up about 20 minutes late and simply watched in the background until everyone was finished.

Completely exhausted from all of the fighting, Yumiko nearly collapses at the end, right in the middle of the floor and laments her decision to fight everybody as a mistake. The male instructor comes to her and asks, "And who are you?" his voice is kind of nasally and deep, making everything he says sound less serious.

She barely manages to stand straight, but can answer, "Yumiko Nishimura-koken. You?"

"I'm the instructor for this class. Can I—" he's about to ask something, but is cut off with Yumiko shoving the now slightly damp schedule in his face. "Well I...why does nobody tell me these things?"

"Beurocracy, Teacher!" one male shouts from the stands. Everyone laughs, even Yumiko who seems to have enjoyed herself regardless of initial feelings.

The instructor dismisses all of this mess and just assumes that she's right for the sake of simplicity. The rest of the day at the practice floor was essentially spent learning the combat applications of Iaito, which nobody quite understood. Even she was at a loss for actions of how to properly perform draw cuts.

After the end of the class, Yumiko wasn't really approached by anyone to her surprise. The next place on the list? "Introduction to Spiritual Energy". "This'll be interesting." Yumiko thinks, but this would not come to be.

No, the class was mostly just the teacher lecturing a room of about a hundred students on the academics and common knowledge of what Reiatsu and Reiryoku even are, which stretched about 20 minutes too long. In other words: Mind-numbingly boring. However, this class wasn't separated like the Special Accelerated, Gifted, and Standard classes were, these were just by year. Thus, she was able to sit and idly mingle with Kokoro the entire time to pass the boredom.

Next was another Academic class held in the same room: History of the Soul Society. This was much, _much_ less interesting and bored practically everybody in the room to near re-death with the lecturer's droning and careless voice. It played out much the same with idle whispers between the two, more intense than the half-hour before, about subjects so mundane that they're practically nothing. (Such as: Whether or not you should use a spoon or chopsticks for rice.)

Finally, the lectures let up with the next stop being at "Introduction to Hakuda I" at Class 2. There, she was finally acquainted with the teacher for Class 2: Nakamoto Maiko, a stout, extremely intellectually gifted woman who has essentially read all there is to read on any academic subject you can possibly think of. She only stands at 5 feet and can only just reach over the podium made for teachers. She constantly has her light-brown hair in pigtails as if it's actually cute, while having that famous cutesy gaze which "moe" characters are almost defined by. Unfortunately, she lacks any form of sex appeal and has a serious confidence problem: she's actually a little _too_ confident and can almost seem pompous at a glance. How old is she? Nobody knows or wants to know for that matter.

Anyways, she takes a stand at the podium and announces, "All stand and listen closely!"

Everybody unanimously stands.

"Good! Now, we have a student who wasn't introduced earlier. Everyone welcome...Yumiko...Nishimura to the class!"

Nobody does; Nakamoto scoffs. People begin to sit back down as if that's it.

"DID I TELL YOU TO SIT DOWN!?" she suddenly screams at the top of her voice. Everyone who tried sitting stands again, and the rest of them visibly cringe at the sheer volume of her voice.

"Don't worry, she's just a little...neurotic." one female student sitting next to Yumiko "reassures" her.

"Oh, great. Just what I needed." Yumiko sarcastically and monotonously responds.

Following the slightly odd introduction, she never did actually tell everybody to sit down, so everyone ended up standing for an hour while she stood at a whiteboard with her back turned to them for an hour and lectured with drawings of various different Hakuda stances that she picked up from a book that look more like Tai-chi. They weren't particularly helpful, but nonetheless slightly interesting! Yumiko supposes that this woman is the type who will get easily caught up in one particular thing at the behest of literally everything else.

The only time Nakamoto notices that everyone is still standing is when she finally turns around after the dismisal bell rings. "Oh, I never told you to sit down! Sorry, everybody!" she dismissively apologizes.

Meanwhile, Yumiko is already in the process of getting the hell out of there with the thought in mind, _"Oh thank god that's over."_

The next stop is two more lectures: "Strategy" and "Shinigami Duties". _"Oh, I see now."_ she thinks to herself _"Breaking up lectures with real classes? Pretty clever, but it doesn't make them less awful."_

This time, Yumiko is actually interested in the lectures, namely for strategy. Not just because the one lecturing is actually tolerable, but because it also doubles as a philosophy class about the etiquette of warfare. One thing nudges at the back of her head, though: Why are they focusing so much unit-based total warfare strategy when their job lends itself to something smaller? She doesn't quite know what a smaller-scale strategy type would be, but resolves to find out once the day is late.

The next class is mostly just repeating mantras and going over things in a half-hour that should be able to be explained in just a few short sentences. Not only is it boring past the actual point of the whole session, but Yumiko actually disagrees with the philosophies that the lecturer injects into his speech. Those are mostly about upholding honor, contrary to the previous speech that put it in the back to everything else; sacrificing everything for a goal, which Yumiko thinks is basically maximizing losses; and then some other things that just went in one end and out the other. Basically amounted to "Duty above all."

Eventually, the day winded down to just a few more classes: "Human History", "Math", "Writing", "Hoho Footwork", and finally "Kido Theory" for an overall 7-and-a-half hour day of what she considered to be mostly people spewing crap out of their mouths.

* * *

Now fortunately, they started early in the day to leave the students with some actual time in the day to do anything. Yumiko decides to spend this time to visit the academy's library to look for a book on small-unit tactics. While searching, she hears a familiar voice from down the isle she's currently in, "Aaah, Yumiko! Sorry we couldn't make it to your entrance ceremony!" The familiar, snarky voice of Gokuro rang through the entire building as he nearly went into falsetto at first.

Yumiko nervously turns to her side to meet his gaze and inherently slightly creepy smile, "O-Oh, hey Gokuro. What're you... Oh, right. It's fine."

"And what are you looking up here? I could swear you weren't the type to read." Gokruo closes in on her, trying to lean in and see what she's peering at.

Yumiko takes a slight step back and to the side, "Well, I was um...trying to look into small-unit combat. You know anything about that?"

"Oooooh! You mean Guerilla Warfare! Yes, it's been popping up recently, a rather new topic of discussion amongst the debaters of **war**!" Gokuro excitedly comments "Oh, but you're in the wrong section. Wrong library, even. I'll tell you what, how about I go and fetch you some information on that? Take it as my apology."

"Really?" Yumiko looks surprised, to both of their surprise. "I mean, that'd be great! I didn't really know this was a thing. Or that it wouldn't—"

"Be here? Despite how big this place is, it's actually pretty outdated. Hasn't been restocked in a few decades!" Gokuro comments. "No, we at the R&D Department have everything you could ever want! Just don't go asking the captain personally, he's a bit of a stickler." He starts absentmindedly flipping through the lined books near them.

"Stickler?" Yumiko inquires.

"Yes, he can be very nasty to those who approach him at times. You'd be no exception, I assure you. In fact, he's already taken an interest in you because of _that thing_." Gokuro points at her Zanpakuto "Well, whatever it is."

"Excuse me?" Yumiko puts her hands on her hips and glares at him.

"That's no ordinary Zanpakuto. I can tell just from the context that something is going on with it...that reminds me." He rummages around in his pocket for something, pulling out a simplistic black collar with a glaring red orb on it. "Here, put this on."

"And it is...?" she questions as she takes it.

"An observation collar." he suddenly sounds serious "I need to collect data on you. Don't worry, this is all independant; nobody will know besides me."

She is obviously reluctant to do this at first, with the sudden argument, "Well, what if I want to..." she trails off, however.

"Eeeeh?" he insits she continues, coming closer with that creepy smile.

"You know, do something privately?" she finally manages to spit out, very slowly turning not red but instead pale.

Gokuro finds this hilarious, as well as her reasoning, "Ooh, you'll make my diaphram explode like that! But seriously, you can just take it off. It's not permanent or anything. Not to mention if you get into trouble, it has a thing you can push to send an SOS. Not that I think you'd get into much trouble, right?" That last part seems somewhat sarcastic, as if he expects her to defy his expectations.

"I suppose." she answers simply, still contemplating the thing. Finally, after a minute or two of deliberation, she puts the thing on and is surprised by its comfiness. "Not too bad." she comments.

Gokuro nearly squeels again in delight, " _Aaaaah_! How delightful! Now back to something more mundane, it's getting rather late. I'm afraid I have my research to attend to, but I'll try my best to get that info printed out for you. I could give it to you now if you had a device, but _nooo,_ they won't _allow_ students to have them. **Poppycock!** "

Yumiko can only stand back and watch his strange ranting, but manages to calmly respond, "Okay."

"Oh, but I'll see you some other day. Try to pop in every now and then to check up, but that little device pretty much solves it." Gokuro starts to leave, saying on his way out, "And if you need anything, don't neglect to request Asane or I! Squads 12 and 4 respectively!"

"Got it." Yumiko almost shouts. "Oh, where's Asane?"

"Working overtime. A recent accident with the 5th years left everybody badly injured." Gokuro yells back, sounding perfectly disappointed and tired.

Yumiko lets him leave peacefully, following suit just a minute later.

* * *

Later that day, Yumiko finally returns to her dorm (147) where Kokoro has apparently been patiently waiting for her. Yumiko questions her patience, "Just...how long have you been waiting for me?"

"Oh, not too long!" she cheerfully says while sitting in Seiza on the floor just beyond the door like a patient dog.

"Kokoro..." Yumiko persists.

"Well...since classes ended, I guess." Kokoro admits, still looking hopeful.

 _"Oh no..."_ Yumiko thinks, a cresfallen frown befalling her just then. "You don't have to do that, you know." She tries to walk past Kokoro, but gets nearly tackled.

While hugging, Kokoro argues in her usual happy manner, "But you're my friend!"

Yumiko has a very, _very,_ _ **very**_ hard time even thinking of a response to this, so she just stands there, dumbstruck by her own ineffectiveness in this situation; completely disarmed by such a simple statement.

"What's wrong?" Kokoro eventually asks, breaking that insurmountable wall.

Yumiko can barely muster up this answer as well, so she states it matter-of-factly, "I've...It's been a long time since I've heard that. I didn't know what to say."

Kokoro doesn't seem content with that answer. Yumiko elaborates, "Well, we just met a few weeks ago, you..." She realizes that this is making matters worse; Kokoro is starting to lose her smile. "You know what? Sure." she finally relents, hugging Kokoro in return. It seems to fix the issue, she's not going to get depressed now.

They stay like that for a few minutes, making Yumiko slightly uncomfortable, but Kokoro voluntarily separates and climbs into her own bed on the left side of the room. Yumiko can now get a much better look at the room without the mindsore of emotional turmoil weighing on her.

Much like the classrooms, this room is a bland white with nothing more than yellow and green beams running up the walls for some form of aesthetics. The ceiling is thankfully a darker shade of rug-textured green. There are exactly two beds, one of the left that Kokoro has claimed and one of the right presumably for Yumiko. Between them is a simple wooden nightstand with a light on it, and each bed has a significant distance from it. Both are against a wall, and it would take at least 6 paces to get from one to the other. The door to the room is a sliding door off to the side, right in front of the left-side bed. The floors are simple hardwood planks, but aren't particularly grating to walk on. Everything is fairly empty, to be frank; probably to allow those staying in the dorms to personalize their rooms. As a homely addition, there lies a Kotatsu in the lower center of the room with an electric cooking pot built in.

And then her stomach growls. "Augh..." Yumiko groans, nearly collapsing from hunger. It's then she realizes, "Oh, I can't believe it. I forgot my pack full—"

Kokoro then pulls the pack Yumiko supposedly forgot out from under her bed. She pull out the first thing grabbed: an entire roll of bread. "Here!" she thrusts it forward, almost telepathically sensing the impending doom if she had not acted immediately.

"Th-Thanks, but how...?" Yumiko takes the roll and questions her while biting into it.

"You gave it to me, remember? You said, 'Hold this for me.' and never asked for it back!" Kokoro blurts out sitting beside Yumiko to make sure she eats.

After taking a minute to finish, Yumiko rises back up hesitantly, "Well, thanks. Can't believe that happened..." she rubs the back of her head in self-depreciation.

Kokoro puts her hands on her hips, "Really? After what happened this morning?"

"What happened..." Yumiko ponders "...at Zanjutsu training?" She looks up at Kokoro, wondering how she knows.

"Word spreads quickly around here. It's still the soul society, remember?" Kokoro explains.

Yumiko scoffs and takes a seat on her bed, "I hate gossip _so much._ "

Kokoro starts yelling absentmindedly, approaching Yumiko with a concerned look, "You could've hurt yourself!"

"I've always done that." Yumiko reasons. "Well, it's fine. Off subject: How'd you manage to get us in the same room? That's supposed to be random, right?" She stares inquisitively, waiting patiently for the answer for which to judge the true answer.

Kokoro is caught off guard, "Ah, I told you, remember? I just have my ways." She seems to be nervously crossing her legs while standing and has her arms behind her back.

"But I really want to know! It might be useful some day." Yumiko insists with the interrogation, trying to look innocently curious.

"I...I'd really rather not." _she_ insists.

"Hm?" Yumiko continues to pry, not knowing when to quit.

"Just...a favor for someone." she starts to give way, her legs clenching harder together and arms crossing over her chest, hands wrapped around her forearms instead of tucked in.

Yumiko gives her a long, uncomfortable stare, observing each and every minute movement to analyze the mood. The squeezing of her arms, the lack of eye contact, the slightly downward angle of the head, the nervous darting of eyes back and forth, and even the barely visible twitching of her legs.

 _"Oh."_ She thinks to herself, the likely fact finally hitting her in the head with the force of a brick. Her eyes widen, she covers her mouth, and assumes a thinker position for a solid several seconds before rising and clearing her throat. She slowly approaches Kokoro, then pats her on the shoulder, "Sorry. Hey, how about we have some actual dinner? You know, to celebrate." She decides finally to change the subject, then mentally to not revisit it any time soon.

Kokoro nods, smiling once more but not saying anything besides, "What did you have in mind?"

They both go through the bag thoroughly, eventually finding a very suitable meal: smoked beef and rice. One needlessly complex cooking pot setup and change later, and they finally have a nice dinner of Gyudon (without the pleasantries). Sake was found by Yumiko, but she figured it may by a slightly bad idea to add it, so they only had water.

Upon the table, Yumiko eventually decides to toast, "Let's put this towards hopefully being able to tolerate 6 years of this tower of crap before we can do anything even remotely interesting with our lives!"

"That's seems awfully cynical, but okay!" Kokoro reluctantly agrees, and they toast; taking mere minutes more to finish everything. Of course, 3-week old smoked beef and white rice aren't exactly delecacies despite being the best they really have as far as celebratory food goes.

After the quiet two-person party that barely even resembled one, the two decide that if nothing else is going to happen, they might as well go to bed now. Then comes the problem of changing.

"Um..." Kokoro approaches her friend just before the fact "...do you have anything to wear?" she looks genuinely concerned, like someone shouldn't even be able to sleep without the proper attire.

"Now that I think about it..." Yumiko thinks back to all the times she's had to sleep. Each and every time beyond That Event, she had slept alone in some way. Whether it was in full camaflouge out in the wilderness while hunting or simply taking rest in her shack of a house totally nude for no reason other than the comfort. "...I don't think I've ever done that. I've always just done whatever was best at the time."

"Oh. I guess I should have seen that coming; you're the survivalist after all! Well, that's..." She makes a very sour face at that moment "...could you not do that?"

Yumiko finds the request rather strange, "O...kay?" She contemplates it, but doesn't dare ask why. They both agree to turn back-to-back while changing; Yumiko just strips down to her Shitagi, but Kokoro changes into an entirely different robe that looks like something a bit more luxuious than ordinary cloth. Not impressive color-wise, but it instead just looks very practically comfortable and fit for sleeping exclusively.

"Cool." Yumiko comments on the robe. Kokoro just smiles and does a tiny bow before climbing into bed and curling up in fetal position. _"Cute."_ Yumiko thinks to herself as she settles in as well, taking up a more lazy, splayed-out stance.

She can't seem to get to sleep, even in the pitch blackness of the room and the more comfortable beds of the dorms. She happens to stay awake worrying for at least another hour, only to hear in the dead of night someone giggling. No, that's wrong, no giggling but something more like sobbing?

She tilts her head to judge the source, it seems to be coming from Kokoro. _"What's this?"_ She thinks and listens intently. For the next 5 or so minutes, she can hear nothing but that quiet sobbing in the background of silence. She can't help but feel pity for this girl, whatever she's suffering from. The rest of the night was filled with some semblence of a deep regret that she should have done something.

* * *

The next day, Gokuro followed up on his promise to provide the printed works of small-unit warfare tactics for Yumiko, which she would go on to read, re-read, and overanalyze for the next 6 years. Despite that it was little over 50 pages. The rest of the next few years were spent just trying to survive day-to-day the unbelievable onslaught of crap-spewing that Yumiko so despised. The only things that really came as fun to her were the classes on Kido, Zanjutsu, and Hoho. The rest were practically time-wasters to her. Regardless, she managed to pass each one with overal average scores. Her apparent specialty of archery was practically ignored by everybody, so she made up for it by trying as hard as possible to out-do those in the fields of Zanjutsu and Hoho. This mostly succeeded, although she remained untalented in her footwork.

After they graduated to 5th years, however, things started to decay. And by "things", we mean the very unstable psyches of our protagonists. Over the course of being "alone in a crowd" as one could call it, the only thing that Kokoro has found actually enjoyable now is hanging out with Yumiko. She comments on this several times, but the two are often much too bashful or proper with each other to actually get anywhere on the subject. Yumiko, meanwhile, is flourishing in the social scene with her swordsmen peers and increasingly powerful leadership skills. She, however, has the problems of: one, Kokoro feeling increasingly disposited. Two, the constant weight of worrying about whether or not her home is safe without her. The feelings of guilt wrack her as they did that one night, thus onward.

One may wonder what exactly she accomplished in the classes for using and communicating with one's Zanpakuto. In short, it was a total failure. While Kokoro at least was able to contact an inner voice, Yumiko was left completely stranded, with the sword constantly refusing to let her into its mind and only speaking in her subconscious like it always has. Each of its voices whired in her head night after night, through the days in a droning slew of obvious lies, attempts at delusion and sophistry simply for the sake of themselves. Nothing quite useful was accomplished.

In addition, she didn't really get to enjoy the thrill of killing the crap out of some hollows or even dummies because the institute decided that her attested background more than qualified her to skip the practice. This coupled with all of her and her friend's psychological problems solidified an extremely stressful atmosphere that almost made her leave the school altogether. That would be giving up, however; and Yumiko Nishimura-koken _doesn't give up. Ever._

No, she stood still and made it through the entire 6 years while remaining at odds with pretty much everything. By the end, however, she made one very small and potentially fatal mistake...

It was directly after the graduation ceremony in their 6th year that Yumiko was appraoched by Kokoro after returning to their dorm to begin packing what little they had accumulated over that course of time. "Hey, so what squad did you sign up for?"

Yumiko almost literally froze over at the mere question, or at how shocking it was to hear that wording. "Sign...up?" she slowly questions.

"Yeah. You _did_ sign up, right?" Kokoro tilts her head.

"Well..." Yumiko specifically avoids eye contact, scratching the side of her head.

Kokoro gasps in disbelief, "You idiot! Why didn't you go and do it?"

"I didn't know!" Yumiko jumps up and argues.

 _"Nnnnnnnn!"_ Kokoro groans and pouts.

Yumiko tries to reason with her, "Well, what did you get on?"

Kokoro calms down for a moment to answer, but still seems rather angry, "Squad 13."

"Oh. I got 11." Yumiko disappointedly responds.

"Well...it was close?" Kokoro tries to make light of the situation. "I guess we can still see each other outside of duties. And maybe you could eventually come to squad 13." The display isn't very convincing, so Yumiko decides to try her own method. She reaches out and suddenly embraces Kokoro in a stranglingly tight hug. She gasps again, unable to react in time, "You've...been doing that a lot more often, right?"

"I guess." The two remain stationary for a while, right up to and past the point that it has become awkward.

"This is a bit..." Kokoro starts to speak.

"Sorry." Yumiko quickly apologizes, letting go. "Well, I guess we should get going. The induction ceremonies are tomorrow, you know."

The two nod at each other and prepare themselves, easily emptying out the room and taking to bed to prepare for the next day, ending their last here. In the dead of the night, just as their first night there, a similar atmosphere befalls Yumiko with the unexpected absence of something that had been at least slightly uncommon by then: Kokoro sobbing in the middle of the night. She would usually do so if they hadn't eaten, and she wouldn't eat on some nights for one reason or another that was never personally revealed. On this night, she hadn't eaten but seemed to act content. Despite that, there's still that familiar atmosphere.

Yumiko decides to investigate, slowly getting out of bed and approaching Kokoro's to see if she's asleep. She acts like it, but the shiftiness and a clear yawn give her away. Yumiko takes a seat beside her and places a hand on her her head. "It's okay." she says. Her touch makes Kokoro flinch, sending a huge wave of concern wash over them. She tries again, with a much more relaxed reaction. She continues with her original intent, speaking softly, " _You can cry._ "

Kokoro, just from hearing such a kind thing, nearly breaks down right then and there, but holds herself back enough to not disappoint herself. She grabs Yumiko's hand and holds tightly onto it, snivelling and whimpering, curling up into a ball tightly and holding her friend in place. Yumiko sits there and comforts her for a long while, but evenetually must part. Kokoro stops her, begging, "No..." almost inaudibly. Yumiko looks back, hearing her add, "Could you...sleep with me?" Although she's hesitant, Yumiko decides to indulge her just this once. They both curl up together in that bed, getting as close as possible, Kokoro holding the hugging between the two together until Yumiko finally falls asleep just from exhaustion. Kokoro falls later, content for at least once in a while.

* * *

The next day, the two reluctantly part ways for the first time since they met, in ove half a decade. Yumiko leaves the halls of the academy for the massive and barbaric barracks of squad 11, while Kokoro leaves for the elaborate path to the docile and gorgeous squad 13 barracks. The only thing that resembled closing words between the two was a nod and a long stare. One where they both mutually understand the motives and future of the other.

The induction ceremony for Yumiko was not a quiet one. In fact, the captain Zaraki insisted that each new member of the squad should be required to vertically smash a series of plates with their sword to prove how powerful they are. Each one screamed at during their attack for some reason, and nobody could get to the bottom. 30 plates in total, all relatively thick and made of some sort of stone.

When it came Yumiko's turn, she found herself standing right in front of the captain and almost indimidated by his stature, but offset by the goofy hairstyle. It ended up just giving her a very odd impression. Regardless, her Zanpakuto (which had grown by almost a fourth) and strength combined managed to split 21 plates down the middle: the 3rd highest score and shared by two others. As it turns out, this test wasn't just a show, but was made to decide who would win a seated position among the new entrants. The highest scorer got to share 20th seat with some other bloke while everyone else got "unseated" as their position. This thoroughly disappointed her, but one takes as one goes. Instead, her plan was to either get out of this hole as soon as possible, or usurp her way up the ranks.

Whatever her plan would end up being, she realized that this would be a very interesting chapter in her afterlife so far.

* * *

 _ **Will Yumiko survive squad 11!? Who will come to her aid this time? Is somebody in this fanfiction a homosexual!? Is anyone going to die yet!? Who is the antagonist!?**_

 _ **All of these questions and more will be answered...on the next episode of DRAGON BA— er, BLEACH – NIKUSHIMI NO YA.**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**


	4. Act 0 CH3 Omake 1: Rejected by God

_**Welcome to an Omake chapter! These chapters are independent scenes or experiences which are totally optional and mainly meant for character development.**_

 _ **If you don't want to read it, you can skip this and go on to the next full chapter. Omake chapters are meant to fill the gap inbetween full chapters, so the existence of one doesn't excuse the absence of the next chapter.**_

 _ **Without further stalling, enjoy!**_

* * *

 **PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 3 OMAKE:**

 **REJECTED BY GOD**

April 5th, 1985: Yumiko graduated to 4th year just a day ago and found out a detailed that she dreaded: She had to learn how to communicate with her Zanpakuto. Unlike many students who had just recently gotten Asauchis, she had already grown one, and she _hated_ it. This thing is like no normal sword spirit, it had some sort of ulterior motive behind how it communicated. Subliminally, it projected thoughts into her head every now and then...

"You know you want to **kill** them..."

"They're lying..."

"Wander around at night, it'll help..."

"She doesn't deserve our sympathy..."

"There aren't any problems here..."

"There's someone watching us..."

It just kept going, on and on for every detail of every day. Far more talkative than it was in the Rukongai and far more malicious. Gods know what it would evolve into if this kept going, Well, she had just about enough,so maybe it'll be a good thing to do this! No, that's a lie, too. It'll keep happening and this will just make it worse. What if she can't even do it, what then? And if she does, what will happen? What will she say? Confront it?

She stomps on towards that class in the later evening with her thoughts raging against themselves at the delight of the spirit torturing her, even allowing her to ignore everything around, including the cries of her friends that called out but were blocked. Eventually, she manages to reject it all upon reaching her destination where people are still entering.

"Finally. Let's get this over with." Yumiko scoffs, waltzing in and taking a seat on the bare floor in the far back. This room looks just like any other, but more bare and nil than usual; the only good thing about it is that the floor isn't particularly hard to sit on. Everyone else has already congregated into somewhat neat lines when the teacher comes in.

Thankfully, it's not the neurotic Class 2 teacher, but some about-average guy with a totally shaved head like that of a monk. In a calm and collected, he tells everyone to assume the lotus position and place the enseathed blade atop their laps. As soon as Yumiko does, she feels the strange presence of the sword's spirit lingering even closer than usual, as if anticipating her. The voices have suddenly stopped, but soon she must go deeper.

Upon command, he tells everyone to focus on their meditation and forget everything around them, to invision only their sword and to keept their mind enamered in that endeavor until they become lost in a trance. As Yumiko follows these instructions, everything around her begins to fade to black until a tiring and almost superheavy gravity befalls her.

She begins to feel wet, like sitting in water. She decides to open her eyes, only to find herself in the middle of a massive black void, sitting in what appears to be water. Somehow, she can see as if there were light. One touch of the liquid she is sat in reveals a bubbly, tar-like texture, making her suddenly jump and stand. She keeps her head down, now seeing something reflecting in the water in front of her vaguely. She hesitates, not sure of what will happen next; she does anyways and is met with something undefinable.

Lost for words, her mind goes completely blank while the apparition assaults her psyche and throws her into such a horrid hallucination that the meditation is broken. In her head even after the fact, she can hear blistering screams berrating her with their sheer shock factor. She's forced to leap up and throw the sword aside; she backs up against the nearby wall and starts to visibly freak out like someone who just got shot.

The teacher has run over to her aid by the time she finally realizes that she's back in the classroom. "...what happened?" he finishes saying, as she hears from finally fading in.

It takes a little while, but she finally answers, "It threw me out." while staring directly at that accursed sword. The teacher has been holding firmly onto her shoulders, but now lets go and allows her to retrievethe sword. When she does, she takes the thing by the blade and slams its handle against the wall, shocking a few people.

The teacher quickly makes his way towards her to ask, "Do you need to take a break?" He can tell how shaken and angry she is, for she is unconsciously furrowing her brows as hard as they can possibly be furrowed without overexertion. She takes the offer by simply storming out and leaving the sliding door wide open.

Making her way down the wide and tall halls, she ponders to herself what the hell had just happened, _"First it talks to me without provocation, now it decides to blatantly give me a fucking heart attack? I hate it—"_

Yet, it has the gall to interrupt her thoughts with its serpentine voice, " _It's your fault..."_

Yumiko stops in her tracks to smack the sword and grasp tightly at her head, **"Shut the fuck up!"** she screams at it, but it remains unphased and even delighted. She keeps getting even angrier at the being until her walking is intermitently interrupted by yelling at the voice in her head. In her wanders, she eventually finds herself standing in front of the door leading out to the Kido practice range. "What was I doing here?" she asks herself. "Oh, right..."

Yumiko slams the sliding door open and yells, "Kokoro!" The kido director at the time doesn't appreciate this very much, so he marches up to her and yells back, "Hey, we're in the middle of practice, you can't just barge in here like that!"

Yumiko just about loses her nerve, grabbing firmly onto her sword and almost drawing it right across him, but just barely resists the urge, not helped by the voice constantly chanting its Kill Mantra to tempt her into it. The teacher flinches, not knowing just how to handle the situation until Kokoro comes sliding over to see what the yelling is about. Yumiko refrains from losing her shit and tells her friend, "I need to talk to you."

"But I'm—" she tries to argue.

"Now." Yumiko commands. She then uses Mean Look the kido director, essentially rolling a 20 on her intimidation check to make him back off. Kokoro reluctantly follows her out into the hallway where they turn at the wall and simply relax for a minute before Yumiko actually gets to the point.

"I saw my Zanpakuto spirit today." she states, a hard expression on her face staring off into the ether.

"...You didn't like it, did you?" Kokoro guesses, turning sullen.

"That's right. Can we...?" She hangs her head lower.

"If you need to."

Yumiko sighs heavily, hesitating immeasurably in wonder of whether or not it's a good idea to get her involved. Ultimately, she decides to talk, "Well, when I looked up at it, it was like the thing couldn't even be comprehended. It kind of hit me in the face with its...something. I don't know, it all just kind of went white with lots of colors. It started yelling at me and..." She tries to trail off, but realizes it wouldn't help "...do me a favor."

Kokoro perks up suddenly, "Yeah?"

"If I ever try to kill some innocent person, stop me. Take this damn sword from me if you must." Yumiko calmly asks of her, hardly breaking voice or mood.

Kokoro stands there, staring, dumbstruck, almost unable to form a response. Eventually, she figures out to ask, "What...did it say?"

Yumiko shakes her head, "You really want to know? Well, it told me that I didn't belong. That I was like a virus, just like the others. It said that viruses needed to be removed, that the least I could do is to destroy them. It said to believe none of them, that they all had none of my interests in mind. Kept saying that everybody hates me for having it, and that the only redeeming factor I had was forfeited when I came here..."

"That's enough." Kokoro nearly yells. Yumiko jerks her head up in surprise while Kokoro continues, "Just don't listen to it, none of that is true. Even if it's partly true, I'm different. I know you think that too since you came to me. It's alright, just forget about it and stick with me! Be a little more optimistic!" She turns towards Yumiko and tilts her head with that wide, comforting grin of hers.

Yumiko lowers her head again, this time smiling and calming down from her once tense state. She reaches around to give Kokoro a quick hug, "You can go back now, I just needed to tell you."

"I'd rather stay with you. " Kokoro says, further pleasantly surprising her friend. She looks up at her, the two matching their expressions. They separate and start to walk down the hall together, with Kokoro thanking her, "Thanks, I _hate_ sealing practice."

"No problem. What should we do now?"

"Rooftop fistfight?" Kokoro suggests.

"That sounds like something I'd suggest."

Kokoro punches her in the shoulder, "Well I'm suggesting it."

"Ha, Let's go then." Yumiko conceeds, and the two head up to the roof to spend the rest of their day punching each other in the face for fun.

* * *

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**


	5. Act 0 CH4: The Warrior

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 4:**

 **THE WARRIOR**

Immediately after her induction into Squad 11, Yumiko was shown to her new room by two other shinigami: the dual 17th seats named Masamune; a man and woman who look nothing alike besides their buffness and stature and are so obviously in love that it's painful. However, the two had yet to give their first names to her.

So she asks, "Hey, what were your names? I don't think I ever got them." while they stand before the sliding door to her room in the barracks.

"Jinpachi. Jinpachi Masamune." the male of the two says. He stands a little over 2 meters; 7 feet, and has such a massive frame that even olympians might be in awe. Nothing on this body that would stand out otherwise is shown thanks to the concealing Shihakusho. What does, however, is his shiny, bald head and magnificent black beard that has a long braid on both ends. He seems to be the type who likes to look both tough and magnificent, and his narrowed and nearly black eyes help that. Characteristically, his voice is also deep enough to shake stone.

"You can call me Heidi!" his apparent lover tells her, the woman herself standing just a head shorter and having a very similar bulk. In contrast to Jinpachi, she has a full head of hair that also happens to be a very aurous hue of blonde that reaches far down, nearly to her back. She looks mostly foreign, with much larger lips than usual, piercing blue eyes, a wide nose, and a puffy, naturally pale-white complexion. Her voice is somewhat deeper than average, but just dodges sounding masculine. She also wears a nice, fluffy, fur hat similar to an Ushanka.

Yumiko also can't help but notice that their Zanpakuto are _incredibly large._ Unlike the average shinigami, they wield huge Nodachi almost as tall as they are! Jinpachi's has a guard shaped like a eight-pointed star and Heidi's is a triangle with the base collapsed in to make a wedge. Hers is also contained not in a standard scabbard, but a simple wooden sheathe.

The two catch her staring at their swords, so Jinpachi comments, "Pretty big, huh?" Noticing that he caught her in thought deep enough to surprise her, he and his wife laugh heartily.

Yumiko hardly cares, "So, this is it? What do I do after...settling in?" the last words are made with some amount of cringing.

The two stop their tomfoolery long enough to answer; Jinpachi does, "Just go and find us about 10 minutes from now in the Dojo and we'll show you around."

"Right." Yumiko agrees, bowing and quickly sliding into her new abode. By now, her pack is flat and small enough to fit through the space without trouble. Granted, it's also totally empty aside from her bow that has been rarely used so far, plus arrows. Much to her behest, the room she'll be living in for an indeterminate amount of time is just as bland as the last, but without the extra person to fill in the hopeless void of loneliness that will one day envelope us all with its mighty and depressing grasp on the totality of existence itself.

You know, that sort of thing. Well, at least the bed is slightly larger and is more comfortable than a slab of stone, as she finds by sitting on it. As expected, there's a Kotatsu in the corner just like the one in the dorm, but there's also a completely empty desk against the left wall. Well, save for two pens (one that has its tip still extended and is invariably dried up by now), and a short stack of blank paper. The entire scene is actually kind of depressing. Not wanting to stare at this nothingness any longer, she equips her quiver, sword, and bow and heads out to chase after those two strange giants.

She didn't realize it beforehand, but it turns out that the Squad 11 Dojo is actually a completely separate building to the barracks, being located behind them in a more green area where the mostly untamed gardens also lie. As one would expect, the path to the building is decorated with a rough stone path, surrounded by statues of dragons, lions, and even unrecognizable creatures best described as "likely to be minor warrior gods".

Upon opening the door, she is greeted by the screams of three separate squadmates all having what can only be described as a free-for-all with their fragile sticks. They don't even turn to acknowledge her entrance. However, the others sitting around and cheering wave to her. Yumiko waves back and walks around the edge of the room to avoid the current fighters. She spots the Masamunes among the crowd, sitting in the back together, and joins them.

"Hey, I'm here." she tries to get their attention, even waving in front of their line of vision.

"Hold up." Heidi commands, watching intently at the scene of the fight just long enough to witness one of the men get struck at least 4 times in the chest and falling over.

"I love it when that happens." she comments, turning now to Yumiko, "Oh, right." she taps Jinpachi on the shoulder, who glances over at the two.

"Oh, new girl!" He laughs at nothing in particular for a moment "It took you long enough."

Yumiko raises an eyebrow, "Yeah, I got lost."

The Masamunes chuckle at this, Heidi asks her husband, "Does that remind you of anyone?"

The two laugh at the in-joke that's almost rhetorical at this point.

However, Yumiko still doesn't get it, "Wait, what? What does that mean?" She would sound offended if not for the overwhelming apparent indifference.

"Oh, nothing!" Heidi literally waves the conversation away. The fight they were watching below finished up quite quickly a moment later, at which point she suddenly asks Yumiko, "Hey, you know what the last rule of Squad 11 is?"

"I don't know the first one." Yumiko nearly exclaims, visibly annoyed at the question.

Heidi holds up her wooden scabbard, "Newcomers _have_ to fight!"

"Each other?" Yumiko hopefully questions.

"I guess that'd be the fastest way, but I wanted to see what you're made of." Heidi suddenly punches her in the shoulder, smirking with an enthusiastic tone to her voice.

Yumiko just stares at her for about half a minute, then responds briefly, "No."

Heidi doesn't just look disappointed, she looks _pissed_. " _You dare deny me a fight!?"_ she thinks to herself just moments before reflexively decking Yumiko in the cheek!

The punch doesn't follow through all the way. It stops right on her cheek, as if the punch weren't strong enough to get past her head, as if she could simply withstand it without flinching. She grabs Heidi's wrist, pulls away her fist slowly and relents, "How did you figure out how to work me up?"

Heidi takes her hand back and leaps out of her seat at the same time as her new opponent, who glares at her with a greatly suppressed grin. Heidi grins back, placing a hand on her sword. Yumiko does the same as everyone turns their attention to the two.

"You know, I was about to say that the Zanjutsu classes burnt me out on the whole training schtick, but that wasn't the problem at all..." Yumiko is almost scowling in excitement by this point; she begins to march down the stairs with her grip on the sword's handle tightening.

"Wasn't it?" Heidi asks for curiosity's sake, also marching down the same flight of stairs with her previous frown turning into a bit of a slasher smile.

"I think I've just missed using my actual sword! You know how it goes, like getting used to eating fancy crap and then having to suddenly live your life eating nothing but Somen." Yumiko tries to explain, taking her place on one end of the training arena.

"Yearning for the old ways, but being stuck with the new; nostalgia?" Heidi guesses, taking her place on the opposite end.

Some people from the crowd rush out to flee the ensuing chaos. Yumiko shifts her weight to one side and continues, "Yeah, something like that. Don't get me wrong, I'm no monster; I just really miss killing the shit out of some hollows. Miss using my sword and shedding blood, y'know?" She then throws her bow and quiver against the wall to her left and snaps her shoulders in place.

"Ha!" Heidi laughs impressedly "You'll fit in just fine around here. Now how about we get all that pent up aggression out?" She takes her nodachi and holds it up in front of her, slowly unsheathing it and tossing the scabbard aside with a loud clunk.

"Release _**my**_ pent up aggression!? You'll have to hack it off a thousandth at a time!" Yumiko starts to yell, drawing her sword and quickly picking up the pace, first marching and then jogging towards Heidi.

Jinpachi yells from the stands, "Hey, don't get carried away, you two!" He knows it's no use trying to talk down either of them from potentially killing each other, but it's worth a try.

" _UUUUUAAAAAAAH!_ " Heidi screams as she charges at Yumiko with her nodachi at the side!

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ " Yumiko also screams, charging at Heidi with her sword ready to thrust!

" _YUUUUUUUUAAAAH!_ " Heidi continues to scream, halfway there.

" _GRAAAAAAAAAAH!_ " Yumiko also screams at the halfway point.

" _WAAAAAUUUUUUU!_ "

" _URAAAAAAAAAAA!_ "

" _RUUUUUAAAAAAH!_ "

" _YAAAAAAAGH!_ "

" _JAAAAOOOOOOOOO!_ "

It's not quite clear who's screaming what by now. What _is_ important is that they've finally stopped screaming and started clashing at the astounding rate of three parries per second. They swing at each other so quickly and in such a raging fury that the attacks are hard to even follow, the only marker that they even met being the tiny sparks that fly off of the blades with each hit. They start strafing, sidestepping in alternating directions around each other but unable to trip up one another. After the next several seconds, Heidi finally has enough and makes a sudden backstep, faking Yumiko out into a flat miss!

Heidi takes her nodachi in both hands and twirls it from back to front, gaining enough momentum to break through Yumiko's attempt to block and land a glancing cut on her cheek. She steps backwards, covering it for a brief moment and looking at it. Her own blood triggers her even further. "Ah...it's been at least 6 years since I last saw this."

She picks herself back up and glares at Heidi, practically blazing; she skips towards her foe with her sword in thrusting position again! Heidi sticks her own sword out to threaten her, but Yumiko sidesteps it with a short Shunpo dash that transitions into a blade-on-blade glide! Heidi pulls her sword in, in an attempt to prevent closing in, but quickly realizes that Yumiko is fasters than anticipated.

Suddenly, she vanishes. Heidi decides to use her own Shunpo to quickly disappear from view and reappear behind her! Just as soon as she disappears, Yumiko twists around in time to slap her nodachi away before it slams down on her! She attempts to counterattack with a punch to the gut, but Heidi barely flinches! Yumiko is stunned.

"You'll need to be stronger than that..." she comments, sending her own punch into Yumiko, which immediately floors her. Yumiko writhes around for a moment, coughing up blood and holding her stomach, but tries to recover quickly and stand with a vague slouch.

The two quickly resume charging at one another repeatedly, with such ferocity and screaming as to incur the attention of even those outside the arena! Coincidentally, captain Zaraki is brought in by the two who fled earlier in order to stop the two before they destroy anything. He waltzes in like nothing's happening and makes an almost inaudible growl, but it still exerts enough pressure to make both of the women stop fighting. Well, for a second.

Heidi sees this as an opportunity to show off. She raises her nodachi high above her head and yells, " **Split the earth, Kusabi no Yabandatta; Hasai Sesshoku!** " She grits her teeth as the sword begins to morph before everybody's eyes! The entire blade shifts to the head while the handle lengthens into a massive wooden shaft; the sword blade turns into the expansive head of a dane axe and begins to glow! All of this in a fraction of a second just before the axe breezes past Yumiko who barely noticed the attack, the force of the axe's "Hasai Ichimi" sends a massive shockwave through the floor it impacts and the wall beyond it, cutting a massive gouge in the building! That's when Zaraki has quite enough.

He nonchalantly orders them, "That's great and all, but don't go killin' each other. I don't need any more damn paperwork."

He's about to turn and leave to the disappointment of the soldiers who fetched him, but the lieutenant pops up from his back and pesters everybody, "Ooh, wait, I want to meet the new people!"

Zaraki can't help but relent to her, "Fine, but be quick about it." He sounds utterly exhausted today.

Lieutenant Yachiru leaps off his back while he sits on the floor against the wall and relaxes for a bit. She runs over to Heidi and Yumiko, who have stopped fighting by now, and asks for her name.

"Weren't you at the...? No, never mind. It's Yumiko Nishimura-koken." she answers, wondering if she saw Yachiru at the indoctrination ceremony.

"Mmm... Yuumi!" Yachiru announces, a finger pointed squarely at her.

Yumiko points at herself, then looks perplexed, "Ah..." She then realizes they're playing nicknames. "Oh. They call me Chiyo back at home." She rubs herself on the back of the head.

Suddenly, Heidi delivers a swift kick to the crotch and a stern, "Don't get cocky." Not a harsh kick, but enough to marginally piss her off, yet not enough to elicit a revenge strike. She simply sucks up the pain with a strong grip and waits for a response.

She doesn't really get a satisfying response, Yachiru just looks at her funnily and then walks away with a lingering "Okay..." She leaves to greet the other newbies who haven't been hospitalized yet.

Yumiko turns around slowly and whispers to her opponent, "What was that for!?" with her arms outstretched.

In response, Heidi facetiously hugs her for just a moment, but becomes serious again just as quickly, "Didn't anybody teach you manners? Self-referential honorifics..." She hoists her axe on her shoulder and turns away, about to return to Jinpachi who now descends towards the arena.

Yumiko is grumbles for various reasons, but sucks it all up just like the pain and sheathes her sword. She follows the large woman to her husband to see them up on their promise. She runs up to the two as they lock arms; Jinpachi praises Heidi's display and Yumiko remarks, "I didn't expect someone so heavy-set to use Shunpo."

"I didn't expect a newcomer to use it!" she responds, just as impressed. Her sword still hasn't reverted, and Yumiko takes note.

"So what was that anyways? That transformation." Yumiko holds out a hand and places the other on her hip, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh, this?" Heidi lifts up Don'yoku Kusabi slightly to show it off "This is what's called a Shikai: the released form of a Zanpakuto. Any officer worth their salt can use it. Mine is called Don'yoku Kusabi (Ravenous Wedge), and can... 'separate anything' or so it says." She looks proud of it, holding the thing out with both hands and smacking the shaft against her left hand repeatedly.

Yumiko is immediately brought back to the thought of having the talk to "her" own Zanpakuto spirit again. "Ah..." she turns to the side and sighs "I guess I'll have to go without one, then." Her expression is sullen now, shifting from her previously overwhelming excitement.

The Masamunes both sense this, and so look at each other and silently agree to let Heidi speak, "Hey, you're pretty savage in the field, aren't you?" She makes a wide, provoking grin.

Yumiko catches a glimpse of her and can't help but agree with a similar grin, "Yeah, maybe it's just been a long time." the smile disappears just as quickly as it came when she realizes "Oh yeah, I need to go check on my old home. Let's get this tour over quickly, 'right?" She begins to move away, waving at the two and beckoning them to continue, "Come on."

Jinpachi nods and catches up to her quickly while Heidi retrieves her wooden scabbard and shoves the axe into it, forcing it to turn back into a nodachi. They all gather back inside the squad's barracks where the couple show Yumiko around the place over the course of about an hour or two, during which time she is introduced to the squad's major figures that she hasn't seen yet: Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa. Makizo attempted to introduce himself, but nobody cares about him.

* * *

Upon being introduced to Ikkaku, Yumiko could instantly feel that she wasn't going to get along with him. Perhaps that attitude is why they ended up not liking each other, but it happened nonetheless. Their first meeting went a little something like this...

Jinpachi stands in front of the door to his quarters, explaining, "And this is the work quarters of the 3rd seat Ikkaku Madarame. He mainly oversees difficult missions, discipline, and officer training. I was in a few of his classes, but my Zanpakuto isn't really fit for his style." He knocks on the door and asks if he'd like to meet one of the initiates.

It doesn't seem like he'll answer at first, or that he's even there, but he soon slides the door open and gives a dead stare to all three of them. A little while of staring with slightly aggravated and tired eyes later, he finally greets them, "Heidi, Jinpachi...and you are?" he looks towards Yumiko.

She's about to answer, but Heidi does it for her instead, "This is Yumiko Nishimura, one of the initiates we got today. She's talented with a sword, so we were hoping you'd let her in on some of your classes!"

Yumiko brushes off the compliment immediately, "Well, not really talented. Just different! And I got a bit of a two-decade head-start in front of the others." Her expression isn't particularly glad about it, or even flattered, just very neutral.

Ikkaku looks her over for a moment, contemplating, "Well, attendence hasn't been very high recently...I guess I could give her a try."

They all stand there awkwardly until he says something else, "Well, I need to get back to work, so— Oh, Heidi, how's your training for Sen-Joshi Kuribi going?"

She's caught off-guard, but resists stammering and gives a clear answer, "Well...it's been...going well! I'm able to use it without totally passing out, but it still has to drain every bit of strength I've got!" she rubs her forehead nervously.

Ikkaku gives a thumbs up, "Great, I just hope you can control it at some point. You broke my hand with it last time, remember?" The two chuckle about it, then nod to each other. He slides the door closed and gets back to work.

"So what do—" Jinpachi is about to ask Yumiko, but she responds early.

"I don't like him." is said with a very stern face. The two obviously want to hear a reason, so she amuses them, "Just looks kind of lazy and unconcerned. You'd think someone like him'd be more active."

The Masamunes know they won't change her mind, so they just ask her to give it a chance and proceed to meet Yumichika.

Now, Yumichika actually had a surprisingly positive reaction to Yumiko. The moment he saw them cross his view in the halls of the barracks, he ran towards her with an obnoxiously excited smile plastered on him. "Oh, and who's this little..." he then gets a closer look at her, notcing the tired, baggy eyes and generally careless demeanor that she has. Also, she's about a centimeter taller than him. "You looked cuter from a distance."

"Ayasegawa, we were looking for you! What a coincidence." Jinpachi announces happily.

Yumichika says nothing, as he's too busy looking Yumiko over. Finally, after a minute, he says something, "You _definitely_ have some potential...what was your name?"

Yumiko, who is perfectly uncomfortable at this point, introduces herself, "Yumiko. Nishimura- **koken**." She makes sure the honorific is empahsized properly enough for nobody to argue against it.

Yumichika can at least respect the authority behind the claim, and is more excited about her first name than anything, "Oh, we're so similar! ...Well, at least in name. I'll be your superior here: 5th seat officer Yumichika Ayasegawa!" He places a hand on his chest and looks very proud of himself.

Yumiko puts a hand on her hip and shifts around again, "That has yet to be seen. You're quite a bit different than the others here, aren't you?"

Yumichika covers his mouth and stares at her inquisitively, "Sassy...yes, I'd agree. I remember you had a bow and quiver during the ceremony, where did those go?"

Yumiko suddenly perks up and reaches behind her, almost panicking as soonas she notices that the bow isn't there. "I must've left it at the...arena..." she nearly whispers. They all stand there for a moment, silently. Yumichika chuckles to himself.

"I'll go get it." Heidi assures her, running of to do so.

Yumiko's tension lowers just then, and she continues, "Yes, I can shoot one. Prefer it, actually."

"Oh, you'll have to keep that a secret from the others!" Yumichika continues to laugh about it, annoying her.

"I thought so. The people here are pretty brutish, aren't they?" Yumiko looks to her side, envisioning the soldiers that passed her vision in the past day.

"Oh, unfortunately. We're not like them — well, mostly." Yumichika loses his bright demeanor. He's about to wait for a response, but decides to continue, "You're the independant type, right? The type who goes off on their own and questions orders to even those you're loyal to. I know, you've got the attitude to match; I've seen it plenty of times before."

Yumiko's eyes narrow, now suspicious of how perceptive he is. She tries not to answer out of anxiousness, but decides that it might just be better to respond, "I suppose that's at least partly correct. Though sometimes I don't know, myself. Speaking of reading people, you're pretty nice for someone in a high-up position. Aren't you powerful Shingami supposed to have a god complex or something?"

He realizes it's a joke but can't help taking some offense, "You don't have a very good impression of the Gotei, do you?"

Yumiko smiles as if to say "Yes." It gets the point across nicely. Yumichika waves her off and proceeds down the hall back to where he was going, "I think we'll get along! Just try not to get into too much trouble!"

She shrugs the whole experience off afterwards, and Heidi soon returns with her bow as promised. They conclude the tour soon after and lead her back to her room. She finally asks if the two could cover for her while she heads out to give the people of her home the good news, to which they reluctantly agree.

* * *

That evening, Yumiko has finally made her way from the Seireitei all the way back to her old home in West District 32. She gets some turning heads at first, but it takes a while for everyone to actually notice that she had come back. Small crowds begin forming around her, following while she roams around the streets and loses herself in thought.

"You guys gonna follow me around all day or maybe say 'Welcome home!'?" she calls them all out, to which they respond by all applauding and cheering from behind. She turns around to face the crowd with both hands behind her head to look as relaxed as possible. To her surprise, there are nearly hundreds of people all gathered around and looking happy to see her.

"Nishimura-koken is back!" one man yells at the top of his lungs, with everyone following with more clapping and cheering. Yumiko finds herself overcome with pride...that and an onslaught of hopeful kids, some of whom she recognizes from 6 years ago. They all reach for her, begging to be picked up and hugged; she does so and nearly gets knocked over by the crowd of them.

Yumiko stands to attention despite the kids clinging to her and announces, "Yes, I'm back! I'm officially a shinigami now!"

A few people run up to her, mostly the parents of the children, and ask her about how it went while prying them off of her. She responds, "Well, I'll tell everybody all about it! Let's all get to the bar first!" So they all let up in their swarming and lead her over to the nearest bar; the same one she had witnessed nearly destroyed eight years ago when she first decided to become a shinigami. She and a huge crowd clammer around it in the hopes of hearing her tales of the academy and what the Seireitei is like on the inside.

She indulges them, going lightly over each experience and mainly mentioning Kokoro, the Masamunes, how fantastical and clean the Seireitei is, the strange creatures that could become shinigami such as Gokuro and Captain Komomura. She told them about how everyone in the 11th Division is supposed to be an unrelenting badass, that they all love to fight like heathens and about how utterly terrifying their captain is.

About the academy, "Well, that place was boring as hell. They would mostly go around policing people on what to do and how to do it, had tons of writing you have to do, also plenty of books in a library, — even though they're all apparently outdated — but there's two types of people there: Characters and props. The props just stand around, spout words and act like puppets. Characters are completely nuts in some way and can be called 'human' as much as they could be called a wet noodle." She takes a break with a sip of some Somen.

"In fact, I'd say that there were barely any normal people there. Even the other students were a mixed bag of straight workers and delinquents. I may be exaggerating, but that's what it felt like, anyways. Seriously, going there was probably the worst experience I've had since then, and it was a majority of the time! The only good part was meeting Kokoro."

A woman sitting next to her asks about Kokoro, "That's a nice name. Who was she?"

"Well, Kokoro is...one of the few people you could call 'nice' in that place. We met in the tryouts and she really wanted to be friends, so I just let her. Good choice, too. She's...kind of...fun to be around, I guess. Acts really cute and loyal all the time like a little dog, but..."

She tries to gloss over the thought, but everyone notices, "Anyways, she kept me company the entire time we were there and stopped me from going crazy on several occaisions. She's a good girl, but a little ditzy. She went to Squad 13, I went to 11. I need to remember to go see her from time to time."

From there, she trails off into some mindless blabbering about how the academy's food was particularly lacking in the homely touch, but eventually gets back on track about the squad she got into, "Oh yeah, Squad 11. They call this thing the Zaraki Squad because it's led by a guy from the Zaraki Distrcit who just so happened to kill the last captain of the squad and got his title! I wish I could do that, but he's _way_ out of my league. Now, the rest of his grunts are all these self-proclaimed tough guys that love to fight each other constantly. I actually had a battle with one of their officers, and she pulled out this massive axe and nearly destroyed the building we were fighting in!"

The crowd laughs and rabbles. Yumiko continues when they're done, "Oh, and there's also this flamboyent pretty-boy there who's apparently the 5th seat officer. I don't know what qualifies him for such a position, but it must be annoying to deal with. Then there's a this completely bald guy that any kid would run from just by the look of him; he's the second-strongest guy in the division and isn't even at his full potential yet! I'll be training with him from now on, so hopefully that'll be tolerable. I don't know, he looks really lazy."

She pauses to take a drink of some Sake, almost enough to make her lose her breath, "Ah...so anyways, it looks like I'll have to deal with a bunch of hardasses from now on, but I'll try to keep coming back to help you all out. So how's the town been, anyways!?"

Nobody feels inclined to answer, so the bartender takes their place, "Well, Nishimura-koken, it's actually been pretty peaceful. We've been lucky to only get hit a couple of times, but we managed to drive them out! Ever since that one night you decided to leave, the town's chief decided to start arming everybody! Now there's not a single person in the whole town without at least a dagger. We even got a small army with some more advanced weapons! Just don't go telling the government, alright?" he winks at her.

She winks back, "Sounds like everybody's doing pretty well for themselves. Just don't get carried away and caught by the 'government' or I'll have to cover for you!"

Everyone laughs, and she continues her stories well into noon. Eventually, she reluctantly bids them all farewell and takes her leave. The people in the streets wave to her as she passes by, and the day would end soon with her barely making it back to the barracks before nightfall.

* * *

And that concluded her first day in the Zaraki Squad: just a light introduction to what would be a very eventful two years staying in that toxic heap. That was also the most she would actually speak to anybody else for the entire time; she stayed just as antisocial as ever and really only conversed regularly with the Masamunes and Yumichika. More often than not, he was the one who would spark the conversation, while Yumiko would do so with the former.

She was not particularly friendly with Ikkaku, but the two didn't outright hate each other. This is mostly due to the constant combat they had together. Ikkaku's classes on his swordfighting techniques were thankfully almost all demonstration: a welcome change from the academy that made Yumiko even more thankful that she had finally graduated, but all the more angry that it was such a poorly executed curriculum. Ikkaku's method was also so intense that unlike the battles she had with the rank-and-files, he actually managed to get her pumped up enough to not even be able to think about anything other than the fight. He was incredibly hard on her, mainly because she wasn't seated at the time, and she would very rarely actually win. Nonetheless, they both taught each other some new moves: Ikkaku learned more about western fencing and Yumiko learned how to manage dexterity and use misdirection a little better.

Meanwhile, Yumichika would often took an interest in her aptitude for archery, so far as to start trying to use one himself. He lacked the back strength for it, but enjoyed trying anyways. He felt marginally more comfortable being more "himself" around her than others and came to consider her at least a friend in many regards. He attempted to share an interest in accessorizing with her, but she usually would just refuse and lose interest quickly. She isn't one to regard appearance with much importance, but he claims that she has a rarely pretty natural shape that "goes to waste" with her personality. They eventually realized that they didn't actually share too much in common besides being different from the rest of Squad 11.

She also had some large swathes of time she could dedicate to thinking about the state of her home and the attitude of the Gotei. She began to notice a pattern of action: every time the Rukongai was attacked by hollows, they would get a report almost a full minute afterwards, a ranking officer would have to decide whether or not to respond, gather a team, and then head out. They were almost always too late and would allow an unnecessary amount of souls to perish at the hands of those masked murderers.

It makes her angry. Not regularly, but permanently and even on an existential level. Often, her thoughts would be along the lines of, "How could they let so many people die? Why don't they seem to care? They're always fighting each other and wasting time, it's like a damn civil war, they can't even focus on an enemy with all the bickering and beurocracy! They might as well not even do anything, it's not like the beasts are actually scared of them anymore, they just keep coming no matter what we do. It's like we don't even exist!" And those thoughts would be intermingled with the psychotic rantings of her sword trying to trick her into surrendering to instinct.

It was strange. The thing would keep pestering her, but not as much as usual. It seems that each time she lashed out, even in training, that its voice would recede just a little. Those moments where everything vanishes and she loses herself in the moment, where you only need to focus on defeating an opponent were the only solace she had from the massive pains of spending silent nights in a never-ending hallucination of a dream. A torturous wreck that kept piling up end-to-end; she wanted nothing more than to never stop fighting, even to rest. If only it were possible. Thankfully, it would all be over soon.

On another hand, she wasn't treated particularly well by her "fellow" squadmates, who would frequently poke fun at her for using a bow in the first place, or that she refrained from socializing almost at all. Many of the soldiers and even the officers were extroverted roughhousers and couldn't understand her lifestyle in the least. At least, that's what she thought. They at least respected her abilities, starting with being able to back up trash talk for all but the strongest of opponents. The trash talk itself wasn't usually liked, but her ability to show people what's for is something they can relate to.

The method of lax aggression that she observed made her explode several times among various people or even crowds, most namely against Ikkaku who merely subjected her to more fighting as punishment. Most transgressions were overlooked, especially since Kenpachi Zaraki took particular interest in her desire to become stronger. Truly, she was completely unrelenting in her search for the power to defeat the horrifyingly powerful hollows that had been chasing her around for years. She never stated why she was so ravenous, but her style made it readily apparent.

As for the Masamunes, she managed a potentially lasting friendship with them, mainly due to how much they pushed her to it. They observed she was the type of person who wouldn't readily be friendly and needed to be pushed a little. All of them shared the trait of being rather stubborn, which ultimately helped them become closer. Although they did often train together, Yumiko wasn't particularly fond of fighting their swords or dynamic; she actually prefered to be more passive friends with them. She also didn't care too much for their displays of affection that seemed to time themselves at the least appropriate of moments. She's not really the type who ever found having a romantic relationship very important or necessary.

"Just more tragedy." she would think about it all. The people around her, each and every one would just signal more of it. Those two lovers, the sword and the shield would one day be separated. Yumichika would one day grow ugly. Ikkaku would one day fall from grace. Each footsoldier would with his own life's story perish in some ironic and cruel twist of fate. No matter who she met, all that came of it was a familiar sense of dread, so she stopped. "No more." was her claim, but could she keep to it?

* * *

Let's step forward a bit, to little over one year in the squad's company. The repeated incidents of hollows being allowed to attack the Rukongai in the absence of the shinigami made Yumiko _so angry_ that she finally decided to just head her own subdivision of lankies for the expressed purpose of being first-responders.

Her first step to doing this was approaching the captain, which is a lot harder than one would expect it to be. First you have to get permission for a proposal, then avoid the lieutenant, then gather the courage to actually face him, then have the persuasive skills to actually get him to listen in the first place. Perhaps there's also some instances of "Fight me." involved.

Well, it took her a month, but Yumiko managed to do all of this. Thankfully, the Kenpachi actually liked the idea and didn't really care if it subverted some silly rules like permission. Regardless, it was approved, and the last step was to obtain members. The first ones were obviously Yumiko and the Masamunes, but the rest had to be gathered from the regular soldiers and a 20th seat officer. Altogether, 14 people who called themselves the "Nishimura Vanguard 11-1".

She tought her own little group a few main points: Guerilla combat, first-aid, and ranged combat. Against their individual interests, each person was required to know at least one ranged Kido spell and how to use either a bow or a throwing weapon. They were also required to know how to handle injured civilians, mend light wounds, and know when to call for backup from the 4th division. They needed to know how to best maneuver around an enemy, encounter groups of enemies effectively, achieve minimal injuries or deaths, and how to use terrain to one's advantage. The main course of combat for the group revolved not around direct attacks, but on stealth assaults and "blitzkrieg". Another mandatory course was on survival, so that they could actual spend extendedperiods of time in rural areas without dying. Those that weren't born in such areas quickly learned that they were far behind the toughness required of true warriors. She didn't just train them to be warriors, however; she trained them to be rutheless hunters like she was.

That was all she needed to do for a little more peace of mind. To teach people to take her place and shoulder a burden that they should have in the first place. It was the first thing that actually felt fulfilling since she had to part ways with Kokoro.

"Oh shit, I forgot about Kokoro." she thought to herself one night while trying to go to sleep. Indeed, in all the excitement, she had forgotten to keep her promise to stay in touch. She couldn't even remember if it was a promise she made to Kokoro or herself. Whichever it was, she felt so ashamed of it that instead of making good on it like a normal person, she would try to pretend that she had forgotten for much longer. It didn't work. Instead, she would spend the next nearly eight years in denial.

Overall, her time spent in the 11th Division was simultaneously eventful and uneventful. A lot of activity actually occurred, but it was such monotonous action that she didn't end up caring enough about it to feel good about herself. Much of the time was just spent in self-loathing. Not even telling somebody "I've been through some shit." would suffice to explain her attitude then.

The worst part is that this is how she felt about it all. Like life was just one big string of descriptions for each day, that it was just a trudge through each event to some ultimate end. Just a doomed repition. Maybe that's how she always felt back in the Rukongai, but at least there she was making a difference. To her, the entire Seireitei just seemed like a place where time stands still, housing people of a whole different mindset to the outside world, and where the concept of mortality was not experienced but reigned over.

 _"They call themselves gods. They feel entitled to their immortality, which they don't have. It's so vain, I almost feel pity for them all. It seems that even those that came from dirt now see themselves as the water that flows through it. Is this what if feels like to be eternally searching for power? Miserable. Why is everybody so miserable? I just want them all to realize...maybe the only way to do that is for them to all drop dead. They just need to...die. Die...die...die...die..."_

Its voice was haunting, which read her thoughts and put them into emotion.

* * *

Those two years may have been eventful, but they were all-too-short. Maybe too long for pleasure, but still too short to truly learn from. Perhaps the higher powers didn't know this, for they decided it was time for her to go.

It was about two years after she had joined the squad, Yumichika brought it upon himself to announce to Yumiko that she would be forcefully transfered. He cam into her room one night in June to ask her, "Do you have a moment? There's something...important...I have to tell you."

Yumiko simply stares at him from the foot of her bed, looking lazy, "Eh? Sure, I guess. Knock next time." The last part doesn't sound very threatening at all.

"Well, there won't really _be_ a next time. I was told to inform you that you'll be transfered next week." He steps into the room and leans against the wall immediately next to the door.

Suddenly, Yumiko's tar-black reiatsu floods the room as her expression changes like lightning from tired to aggravated. Her eyes widen and her eyebrow twitches while she scowls through closed teeth, " _Are you kidding me?_ "

"Nope." Yumichika bluntly states, unfazed by the pressure.

"Wh—" she's about to ask a slew of questions, but Yumichika answers them all at once.

"I don't know anything else." he stands forward and turns to leave "Well, just have your things ready by then, I'll try to figure out what's going on."

He's already out the door. Yumiko is left to think to herself again, _"Why do I never know about these things? Damn establishment trying to leave me out of the loop."_

Surely enough, she had all three of her things packed up and was on her way to say goodbye to everybody. First stop is by the Masamunes' shared room; she can only hope they aren't screwing each other right now.

Thankfully, that's not the case. Upon entering, they're only sharpening their blades at...two grindstones.

"Where did you two get grindstones?" she obligatorily asks in complete bewilderment.

The two simultaneously stare at her and speak up in unison, "We just bought them."

They all stand around awkwardly for a minute until Yumiko speaks back up, "Well, I don't know if you know yet, but I'm being transfered to another squad. I just came to say goodbye."

Despite the unpleasantness of the topic, nobody hesitates or flinches at the mention, they all just stand stoicly in the face of it. Heidi approaches her independantly and puts a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, Chiyo, it's not like you're dying or anything. No big ceremony needed, and we'll see each other again soon enough."

Yumiko meditates on it for a moment, "Soon enough...?"

Heidi pats her on the back and assures her, "Yeah, don't worry about it. Sorry if this is underwhelming, but we've been here for 29 years. A lot of friends have come and gone, and we still see all of them every week or so. Besides, I think 3 decades is enough for me."

Jinpachi concurs, "We were also thinking of leaving soon. Go someplace that isn't always fighting, maybe relax some."

"Right!" Heidi yells "We were narrowing the ideas down for a while, but I'm still not sure."

Yumiko gets a quick idea, "How about 13th Division?"

The couple look at each other, shocked by the outburst. They think about it, then discuss in whispers. Finally, Jinpachi speaks up, "Well, that settles the tiebreaker, then! I've always said that 7th Division would be nice, but she always insisted on 13th, so I guess it's majority rule!"

Yumiko has the feeling he's covering something, perhaps that they know why she suggested it, but she decides to leave well enough alone and just continue onwards, "Well, then I guess this is more of a 'See you later', then?"

"Sure!" the two unanimously agree.

With that, and some sliver of hope gained, Yumiko decides to head out. She heads over now to Ikkaku's room.

* * *

The only thing that really transpired between Ikkaku and Yumiko was a quaint, "Well, I guess we won't be training together anymore." and leaving. Far more awkward and clumsy than it needed to be, but neither really wanted the goodbye to last any memorable length. Next is Yumichika, who happened to be on his way to meet Ikkaku, so she ran into him in the hallway.

"Hey, find anything else out?" she greets him with, plus a light wave.

Yumichika raises an eyebrow at her lack of tact, "Yes, actually."

"Oh, great.—" Yumiko prepares to ask what, but can't even do so before he answers.

"10th Division." The two stand silently in the hall, so he must continue, "I don't know what they're thinking with handing you off to Captain Toshiro, but I think there's something weird going on. If I were you, I'd prepare for a rough ride." He seems pretty serious about that suggestion, even crossing his arms to emphasize it.

Yumiko takes this in for a moment and tries to form some sort of response. Once more he's one step ahead of her.

"You don't have to tell me anything. I know this is sudden, so don't go worrying about every little farewell and just do it." Yumichika flips his bang, looking satisfied with himself. He almost forgets to mention, "Oh yeah, you're also going to be inducted as an 18th seat. Congratulations!" He does a small and energetic yet suspiciously sarcastic-sounding clap.

Before she can put her current thoughts into words, he's already slipped past her and exited the conversation. She heads on down the hall on her way to the Captain's quarters as requested while talking to herself, "Well, alone again. I just hope 10 isn't as bad as 11. Maybe it's a lucky number. Well, a toast to the process, I guess. No, it doesn't deserve that. A toast to _me_ , for putting up with this." she chuckles to herself and continues talking about nothing the whole way there, devoid of any real reason but trying not to snap.

It's just another chapter in the mundane life of The Nameless Girl.

* * *

 _ **So what will become of Yumiko now that her time in Squad 11 has come and gone swiftly? A lot of timeskips, that's what. I'm honestly wondering whether or not I should have started where I did, but no stopping now! The next chapter: Prologue, Chapter 5: The Peaceful! Time for relaxing days in Squad 10!**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**


	6. Act 0 CH5: The Peaceful

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 5:**

 **THE PEACEFUL**

She waltzes once more into unfamiliar territory as she enters the barracks of the 10th Division, on her way to meet with the captain Toshiro Hitsugaya for her transfer. In contrast with the 11th Division's simplistic aesthetic, the 10th's is almost blindingly white from the cleanliness of it. Every floor she walks on outside is so lustrous that one can see their reflection in it. The buildings look more cultured, with very Chinese heavy curves on the gables and tiles with a very woody texture. Beyond the main entrance, she could look on for a long while and only see more parts of it; like a small city inside of a labyrinth inside a bigger city. She stares and takes in the scenic stage for some time, but decides not to keep them waiting for too long and proceeds.

Inside, the barracks looks much more plain, but at least very sanitary and in-order. In every hallway, there's at least one person meticulously checking the condition of the structure or traveling with someone by their side. It doesn't seem that there's really a single person here who doesn't smile and wave. Despite the relaxing atmosphere, Yumiko still feels a bit tense, hoping that this captain isn't a total hardass. Luckily, this isn't the case.

She makes her way up to the higher floors and towards the inconspicuously placed office of the captain, which she only found by asking several people for directions on the way. Otherwise, it would've just blended in with the other rooms. With a deep breath, she knocks on the door and waits.

"Who i~s i~t?" a sing-songy woman asks from beyond the door.

Yumiko clears her throat and announces, "Yumiko Nishimura-koken!"

Quickly, the sliding door opens and reveals the busty Rangiku Matsumoto on the other side. She takes one long look over Yumiko and comments behind her, "Ohoho! Captain, I knew you liked the flat ones!" Both he and Yumiko suddenly feel like punching her. She stands aside after her joke's reception and welcomes her in. The stout captain Hitsugaya hails to her and points to the sofa seated directly in front of his desk.

Yumiko takes a seat on the left one near the edge and takes a look around. The inside of the office is still uncomfortably whitewashed, but the walls are thankfully more green than pure white. It's a bit bare as well, with only two sofa, a table, the captain's desk, and a bookshelf behind it. While it's not much, she thinks of him as being more humble than most and probably deceptively relaxed. In mere minutes, the captain goes through two separate forms of some sort out of a small mound to his left. Yumiko glares at his work, worrying about whether that was going to be something she does too or if there was some other job to be done. Hopefully the latter; she hasn't liked paperwork since the concept was introduced to her.

He stands from his chair and takes both a pen and a couple forms over to the table, placing them down in front of Yumiko and taking a seat in front of her. "Just fill those out." he promptly and quietly instructs. Matsumoto also takes a seat beside him and observes closely. Yumiko leans forward and takes a look at the thing, which is basically just basic personal details in the shape of a sign-up form. Basically just a questionnaire and a profile put together, all that dull crap. While she scribbles on it, Hitsugaya observes her closely, mostly paying attention to her expression and movements on each part of the paper, and which one she's on; how quickly she completes it, and if she notices what he's doing. He assumes so, as she keeps darting up at him.

In just 10 short minutes, she's done with the forms and turns them over to the captain, who looks over them and notices how strange her handwriting is. It doesn't flow like it should, the markings look more like she gripped the pen as hard as possible and scratched the characters into the pages. Each one is made of many straight lines instead of curves, and they sometimes go beyond their intended length. It's somewhat hard to read at times, but he makes a mental note of it. He decides to speak up, but not before Yumiko calls him out, "You know, it's kind of creepy to stare at people like that." She sits back and crosses her arms.

"I was told that you would be an interesting person." Hitsugaya tells her while handing the forms over to Matsumoto.

"And who told you that?" Yumiko asks, tilting her head.

Hitsugaya places both elbows on his knees, hands together and in front of his mouth while leaning forward, "A lot of people, actually. You really attract attention."

"I wouldn't know that." Yumiko pretends.

The captain's smirk creeps beyond his hands, "Really? I was hoping not to be disappointed."

Yumiko ignores that and skips to her own question, "So can you tell me why I was so suddenly pulled here? There really wasn't a lot of warning beforehand."

He seems surprised, "Not a lot? We came to that agreement at least a month ago, they should have told you then."

"Nope." Yumiko bluntly disagrees.

"Not surprising, honestly. The buffoons at the 11th Division can hardly ever keep to a schedule." Hitsugaya kids, but with an edge of truth to it.

Yumiko immediately relaxes a little, now staring directly at him, "Oh, tell me about it. They're too busy beating each other up to get anything done! I'm at least glad that I don't have to fight their stupid asses every day, now. Gets repetitive after a while, you know?"

"I can see that." Hitsugaya agrees, not sure if she knew it was a joke. "So the reason you were brought here is, as it has been so kindly stated, 'behavioral problems'. I have yet to see what they were talking about."

Yumiko raises an eyebrow and becomes tense again, "Oh, is that all? Well there goes my other guesses."

Unexpectedly, the captain doesn't make another quip. Instead, he just stares intently at her with the dreaded _direct eye contact._ He stares at her for nearly a full minute before remarking, "We have a lot in common."

"Excuse me?" Yumiko sits up, at attention.

"You have the eyes of someone who's been through too much. You must be the type who presses on no matter what. Am I right?"

Yumiko restrains her surprise and doesn't give a clear answer, "You're pretty observant."

He takes that as a "Yes" and continues, "So where did you come from?" He sits back and places his hands in his lap.

"West Rukongai, 32." she quickly responds, as if it were natural.

"West? What a coincidence, I came from the 1st district." Hitsugaya grins at the fact.

"Oh, but they're not very similar. For one, 32 is always under attack." Yumiko states matter-of-factually.

"I see— wait, it is?" Toshiro suddenly loses his smile.

"Yeah, that's why _I_ rose up and started to protect the area from hollows in the absence of everyone else. And wouldn't you know it, they can—" Yumiko is about to boast about how the people there can defend themselves, but stops short in fear of the law.

Hitsugaya raises an eyebrow, "They can...I see. I suppose that's still your duty, right?"

Yumiko seems surprised, "Oh, yes! I still go out and check on them. And that reminds me, I had this little team back in the 11th Division..."

Yumiko proceeds to explain the existence and role of the Vanguard Squads she had in mind; going into detail about the kind of tactics they use, the potential success rate, the past members in Squad 11, and especially the amount of lives they could save.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." he unfortunately declines.

"Wait, what!?" Yumiko yells "I just spent 20 minutes explaining how great it is!"

"I said no. I can't just let you throw people away for an experiment like that." he argues, fully aware that one such mini-squad already exists that's actually done well.

Yumiko can't believe what she's hearing, and apparently neither can Rangiku, who argues, "Hey, I've seen you allow more dangerous stuff than this!"

Passing by the lieutenant on the way to his desk, he whispers to her, "It's an experiment, Matsumoto." She zips her mouth and gives a sympathetic look to Yumiko, who is still minutely upset. Upon his seat, Toshiro dismisses Yumiko, "You can go now, Nishimura. Matsumoto will show you to your new room. Now go on, I just remembered that I have some more important things to attend to."

The lieutenant nods and approaches Yumiko, who stands at a leisurely pace; the two exit and immediately begin talking. "So, what did you think of him? Pretty cool, right?" Rangiku asks.

"Enough, I guess. Just seems a little _tense_ and...something else. I don't know." Yumiko grabs onto both shoulders, arms crossed and nearly hugging herself.

"Aah, he can be like that sometimes. Don't worry about it, we're all friends here! That's the captain's whole gimmick, after all." Rangiku explains away.

"Really?" Yumiko asks, vaguely intrigued.

"Oh, definitely! He loves it when you make friends with people! Probably because of that Momo girl he used to hang out with." Rangiku looks up in wonder, fantasizing about something.

"Momo?" Yumiko snaps her out of it.

Rangiku explains, "The lieutenant of the 5th Division under captain Sosuke Aizen. She's a sweet girl, but kind of unstable. She grew up with Toshiro, you know."

"I do now." Yumiko kids. "I had a friend like that. A few, actually. Most of them are dead."

Rangiku tries to smile, but finds it hard under such a heavy pretense. "Ah...so," she tries to lighten the mood, but ends up stuttering nervously "what about the ones that are still around?"

"Oh, they're back in District 32. Well, except for three. The Masamunes whom I met in the 11th Division and a girl named Kokoro whom I met back in the academy. She's one of my oldest friends so far."

"I imagine she's back at the 11th Division, then?" Rangiku guesses.

"No, I forgot to request a specific division, so they just sent me there. She signed up for the 13th Division."

"Oh, do you go and see her?"

"Well..." Yumiko tries answer, but just nervously shifts her head to the side.

Rangiku gives her a minute, but keeps talking after realizing she won't, "That's no good. Really, you need to see her at least once in a while. Avoiding it'll just make things worse."

Yumiko doesn't respond. They eventually get to her room about halfway across the building in another inconspicuously designed hallway, next to more similarly designed doors with probably similar rooms, etc. She doesn't bother to give out a pleasantry like "See you later" or anything, they just part ways silently and there.

Funnily enough, it _is_ practically the same. The barrack rooms in the Seireitei must be standardized, because the only difference between this room and the previous one is the presence of some pens and paper on the desk. Then she remembers something.

Yumiko pops her head out just as Rangiku is leaving and yells, "I almost forgot, what rank was I promoted to!?"

"18th Seat! You're an officer, Yumiko!" she yells back, rounding the corner of the hall.

With a thumbs up, Yumiko retreats back into the room and takes a seat on the bed. Yep, the same as before. She puts her bow, arrows, and Zanpakuto on the bed, then sits at the desk to rummage around it. Nothing out of the ordinary, just plain crap all over the place, no matter where she goes. Well, make the best of what you have, right?

"Right." she nods to herself, taking a piece of paper and a pen, then focusing on it for a rather painful amount of time before finally coming up with an idea. "Ah... cartography!" She grabs a clipboard found at the corner of the desk and heads out of the door with her weapons equipped.

* * *

Yumiko would go on to use her spare time literally mapping out the entire surrounding area of the 10th Division's barracks, and the labyrinthine streets that lead into and around it; the roadways through the Seireitei that lead to other squads, and even the outer walls. She had just about mapped out half the entire Seireitei out of sheer boredom before meeting Kakunaka Taeko.

It was midday, about a year in when she met this crazy outlaw in the sewers below the 4th Division's hospitals. She was mapping out the sewer system on a separate sheet to te other map, and had walked at least 2 or 3 miles in the underground that surprisingly didn't actually smell that bad. Well, compared to the Rukongai. Just near what was supposed to be a hidden access point, Yumiko spots a bright light...some sort of campfire. She comes in closer, hiding well between the lights to get a closer look. Within about 10 meters, she can see the figure of what looks like a boy sitting on a crate in front of the fire, completely alone. As soon as she takes a step closer, however, the figure yells, "'Ey, I know ya there! 'Ome ou' an' I migh' not knock ya ou'!" It's clearly a girl, but she speaks in a convincing male tone.

Yumiko steps out of the shadows and into view, "Ah, right, spiritual pressure. Forgot about that."

"Han's up, don' move an inch." she quietly demands, still concealed by the shadows, made worse by the campfire at her back.

Yumiko pulls out her Zanpakuto, "Yeah? What if I—"

She's swiftly shut up as the elbow of the mystery girl jabs her right in the gut in a single instant, and in the next her sword is on the ground a few feet away. "Tha's wha'." she spits out. She starts circling around Yumiko, "Wha' are you doin' down 'ere? Nobo's s'ppose' ta know this par' the sewers exists."

"I was just wandering around, got a little lost. Didn't know your Shunpo could be that fast, you part of the Onmitsukido or something?"

The stranger stomps her heel on the ground, "Shu' it! I'll be the one askin' questions, 'ere! Whisch d'vision d'ya belon' to?"

"10th." Yumiko monotonously answers, grinning at the tomboy's accent.

The figure stops and retreats to their tent after ordering, "Wait 'ere. Try ta move an' I'll chase ya down."

Yumiko does as told, but starts to whisper almost silently, " _Chain of the soul and body, severing of heart and mind. Bring that which is to be forsaken, its fate; tranquility in the realms of Samsara. Come in the dawn and break in the dusk, wayward strike into Man..._ "

The woman peeks back out and approaches Yumiko with an inquisitive look just as she's ending the incantation, "Wha' the—"

" _ **Bakudo #10: Toketsu Reikon!**_ "Yumiko screams at the top of her lungs! Suddenly, the stranger's knees buckle, her elbows fall limp, and her balance seizes up as she collapses onto the ground!

"D-Don' ya think tha' a weak Bakada like this 's gonna keep me down!" the stranger growls and spits at her, struggling against the spell.

Yumiko's brow scrunches in frustration as she throws out a couple more, "Bakudo #1: Sai!" The stranger's body seizes up a little more as her arms are thrown behind her back forcefully. "Bakudo #9: Geki!" The stranger's entire body is engulfed in red light, then the previously unaffected limbs go soft. Her entire body has been paralyzed, but she's still managing to struggle! Yumiko hurriedly grabs her sword and prepares herself, knowing the spells won't last long and she won't be able to run away quickly enough.

Surely enough, the stranger is able to break out of Geki and Toketsu Reikon within half a minute, during which time Yumiko has enough time to catch her breath and start incantating another spell under her breath. Just in time for the stranger to be about to break free of Sai (and to look _quite_ pissed), Yumiko throws out her next one, "Bakudo #17: Gensoku!" Chains of spiritual energy throw themselves around the stranger's legs and harden, sticking to her.

"Tch! Ta think you'd know that." she scoffs, realizing the spell's effect: for quite a while, her movement speed is going to be drastically reduced. Not only is it a spiritual restriction, but the chains actually have a great weight to them.

Then, another one comes out! "Bakudo 14: Chinmoku." A band materializes around the stranger's mouth and straps itself around her head, silencing her completely. Yumiko is about out of breath by now. Still, she stands and tries to finish the battle.

The stranger tries to scream, but finds no sound coming out, even muffled sound. She looks absolutely furious, but also somewhat impressed with a flattering grin. She throws a hand on her hip and, in a sleight of hand, seems to pull a Wakizashi out of nowhere! It seems to be a Zanpakuto, but is incredibly bare and monochromatic, with an added plain disc for the guard. Despite all her restraints, she can still move fairly effectively.

The two circle each other at a slow and methodical pace around the narrow walkway of the sewer, only barely lit by scones on the wall. The stranger strikes first, attempting to use Shunpo but failing spectacularly and almost tripping right onto Yumiko's blade! They both take a step backwards; Yumiko because she doesn't actually want to kill this person, and the stranger to re-evaluate her approach. She steps into the light in just the right way to reveal her face, as well.

The stranger has her hair cut very short, not even allowing it to reach her neck. The bangs are the long part, but are thrown back and held there by an overarching band. The rest is tied into a tiny ponytail in the back. It looks distinctly masculine, but her face itself is really too round to make the cut. The details are faint, but it's at best tomboyish. She appears to stand at a small one-and-a-half meters, or about 5 feet.

Quickly, she throws herself back into the shadows before lunging forward at Yumiko, who guards vertically to the left. The stranger bobs to the right and, instead of stabbing or slashing, throws a hefty kick! She catches Yumiko by surprise and lands the kick to her waist.

"Fuck..." Yumiko steps backwards "...using the weight of the chain to strengthen your kicks? Kudos. That won't work twice, though." She flourishes her sword, gazing at the mark she had left in the aftermath of the clash: a rather deep but short cut on the stranger's left arm.

he stranger charges again, stopping just before arriving in attacking range and swiping in a feint! Yumiko parries the air, and the stranger grabs onto her blade with an incredible amount of strength. Before her hand is lacerated, she quickly lets go at the sign of movement and watches as Yumiko twists and pulls back the blade, but realizes her mistake and tries to swipe it into a threatening angle. Meanwhile, the stranger sidesteps in the opposite direction and sends another kick in! Yumiko lets go of her sword with one hand to grab her foot! She uses the momentum of the kick to send the stranger stumbling forward, but she rebalances in time to dodge a horizontal slash!

"I don't want to fight you. Just stop." Yumiko offers, panting from exhaustion.

The stranger, too, is panting lightly. She doesn't give up and decides instead to reach into her Shihakusho and pull out some coins, then tosses them at Yumiko! She shields her eyes from the shrapnel, which slams against her arm and gives it a dozen tiny cuts — the coins were sharpened! With her right hand gripping her sword, she listens intently and glances from behind her arm to see where the stranger is coming from. As soon as she hears the coins hit the floor, she swipes the sword diagonally up from the bottom left and lowers her other arm. Before her eyes, her sword connects with the stranger's fingers mid-stab! She drops her wakizashi and merely winces in pain as her hand bleeds profusely. Yumiko steps forwards and presses her sword's tip against the stranger's neck.

"I told you not to fight. Now give up and we can mend each other's wounds."

The stranger, faced with quite the dilemma, gives a heavy sigh before giving in and nodding in agreement.

A few minutes later, the stranger is no longer under the effects of Gensoku or Chinmoku and has her weapon back. Yumiko is treating her wounds, mainly that of the hand that thankfully didn't lose any digits.

"Ya spared me." the tomboy tells her.

"Yep." Yumiko agrees, currently wrapping some medicated bandages around the hand.

"Why? Ya 'ad me." she asks, shockingly without any aggression.

"Had a feeling I'd regret it. Besides, I'm not a murderer." Just as she says that, she tightens up the bandages with painful strength.

"I coul' kill ya righ' now, ya know." the stranger remarks.

"I don't have to explain everything to you." Yumiko claims "Just be glad you aren't dead." She begins using some low-level Kaido on the arm cut.

"Yah, yah. So why you re'lly down 'ere?"

"Making a map. None of your business." Yumiko briefly explains.

"Like 'ell." the tomboy argues.

"Really?"

"Yah."

"What's your name?" Yumiko suddenly asks.

The stranger is caught off guard, but answers, "T-Taeko. Teako Kakunaka."

"I can't trust someone who won't tell me their name." Yumiko preemptively explains herself. "Well, Taeko, I've been mapping out all of the Seireitei just out of sheer boredom. Got about half of it done. I was just doing the sewers."

"A map of...!?" Taeko seems shocked, but also very happy. "I coul' re'lly use one o' those. Think we coul' trade?" she offers.

Yumiko raises an eyebrow, "Really? After...you know what? Alright. Let's make a deal: You promise to finish the map for me and deliver it at a later date."

"Tha's it?" Taeko wonders, sure that there must be something else.

"Well, no." Yumiko admits "I want you to offer me something."

"Well..." Taeko starts to think "...'ow 'bout some o' my weapons? I' got lots o' throwin' weapons."

Yumiko doesn't look impressed.

"Well, 'ow 'bout I be you' body— no, that 'on't work..."

Yumiko sighs, "How about you tell me a little about yourself?"

Taeko wonders where she's going with this, and chooses to comply, "Well, I'as a studen' back a' the 'cademy like any other. Came from South Rukongai's 51st distri't. Place's pretty bleak, an' ya coul' re'lly only ge' by 'f ya owned a business or did a li'le thievin' on the side. No's bad as the _real_ slums, bu' ya know 'ow it is."

Yumiko nods along, dressing up Taeko's arm after doing her best with the cut.

Taeko continues, "Yeah. So I 'cided tha' maybe I'd make it well in tha' ninja squad the Seireitei 'ad! 'Ell tha' went ta shi' pre'y fast. 'Bout 'alfway t'rough the 'cademy, I realized tha' I didn't actually like the cap'ns. Or the teache's. Or a'ybody in author'ty for 'at matta. So soon's I go' t'rough the 'cademy an' 'ad a clear route t'rough the Seireitei, I ran."

"Ran? Just...left?"

"Nah, I didn't leave. I'm 'ere now, righ'? I fled unde'ground. I don' care tha' they schose me t' be par' o' da O'mi's'kido, I di'n't wanna deal wi' all da crap 'disc'pline' tha' they pu' up wit'. I've al'dy been through shi' I bet half da ass'oles in tha' subd'vision couldn't even dream of! I disc'plined m'self, I' got m' ways, an' I'll be damn' if _any_ o' them are gonna take 'at fro' me!"

Yumiko grins and whispers to herself, "I guess we share that..."

Taeko hears her, but pretends not to, "So I took da sewers! I's already real' good at fightin', so I could beat th' guys they sent fo' me. Luck'ly, they di'n't see me as much a threat, so star'ed off slow 'n' got hardah. Big m'stake numba one: don' le' th' en'my get strongah ovah time! Hit 'em with you' strongest 'ttack first an' end the battle there!" She touts that saying as if it were golden, even though she technically failed to follow it earlier.

Yumiko finishes up the dressing and takes a seat opposite of Taeko.

"An'ways, I jus' kinda foun' my way inta these secret tunne's an' star'ed a camp. Been 'ere evah since. Luck'ly, da fellows from da 4th D'vision don' mind, an' I actu'lly go' a few friends up 'ere! Ah, there's 'is one really peculia' girl up 'ere who likes t' visit every now an' then...wha' 'as 'er name? Asune?"

Yumiko suddenly perks up, "Asune!?"

"Yeah, ya know 'er?"

"She was one of the people who got me into the academy in the first place! She's Gokuro's daughter, right?"

"I think sh' mentioned someone like 'at, yeah."

The two share a laugh before Taeko continues, "So da Pun'shment Fo'ce do'n't re'lly know where I 'm, but they're _pissed._ 'Pparently bein' a d'serter isn't liked ver' much. 'Sides 'at, I kinda jus' wandah 'round the sewers, sl-e-u-th 'round da Seireitei when I need ta, an' fight off da evil gov'ment! I'm one o' dose ol'-school ou'laws, ya know?"

Yumiko nods, "I've never been a criminal like that before, but I know what it's like to constantly be in danger."

Taeko chuckles, now pleased with her new friend. She suddenly thinks of something, "Oh, wanna learn a new Bak'do? I's one o' my favorites!"

Yumiko is suddenly reminded, "Oh, that's right, the maps."

Taeko also remembers, then sits down and listens to Yumiko's demands.

"Alright, so I think I know what type of deal we can make. I'll give you the map and let you finish it, then you'll return it to me in the future. I won't tell anyone about your existence as a criminal. In exchange, you teach me this Bakudo of yours, you'll provide shelter and protection for me when necessary, and finally: From now on, we'll be friends."

"An' whatevah comes 'rom tha'?" Taeko adds.

"Yeah." Yumiko smiles and agrees. "So is that a deal?"

"Soun's fai' t'me." Taeko admits.

The two shake on it. Taeko teaches Yumiko Bakudo #26: Kyakko which can conceal spiritual energy and kido, and Yumiko hands over the maps. The two decide to register each other in their Denreishinki phones in case of an emergency, and finally part ways with both people satiated. Yet, just before she leaves, Taeko yells back, "Wai', I nevah go' _you'_ drama'ic backstory!"

She didn't get those maps back for a long while.

* * *

Yumiko's days were not filled only with boredom and cartography, however. Every now and then, she would get the absolutely _orgasmic_ opportunity to go on a mission to someplace in the human world in order to, as she would say, "Murder the crap out of some hollows." She had to be reminded on almost every mission that they were, in fact, not murdering anything but instead "cleansing" them. Yumiko still insists that she is murdering the crap out of them.

Now, unlike in the 11th Division where bickering with your teammates was par for the course, Yumiko found it quite a pleasant surprise that nobody in this division really does that. Despite that, she often showed her habits by frequently going off on her teammates for using frankly terrible tactics. And disagreeing with her more than skewed morals. And for allowing enemies to escape. Well, let's just say that there hasn't been a massive improvement in her attitude for the mere two years she spent there. It wasn't really helped by her visiting Taeko and being persuaded into a very rebellious attitude akin to "sticking it to the man" or some such.

Later in her years there, she was barred from doing Living World missions and thus had to attend to something else. What better than reporting back to the Rukongai? She eventually decided that instead of sitting around and doing menial chores each day, she would instead run around the Rukongai and perform random acts of kindness: Donations, part-time work, local investigation, escorts (not _those_ kinds), and her typical vigilante hollow-murdervengeance justice. It started out just as her wanting to do it, but the captain eventually took notice of her deeds and just assigned them to her as squad work. Nobody really noticed besides him.

Although she was initially turned down for her idea of forming a second vanguard, she eventually got fed up enough with it that she actually went and rounded up 6 other shinigami to do it in secret; some of them were lower-ranking officers and the rest were soldiers. On their first dispatch into the Rukongai, they fought against 4 squads of hollows that had started attacking areas in the streets and country of districts 31, 32, 33, and 34.

Only 1 of the 6 team members died, and only 2 more were badly injured with the rest either unharmed or only lightly injured. They successfully caused an enemy rout after completely destroying 2 squads and clearly defeating the other 2, leaving the force with only a few hollows left to flee. During the battle, the first vanguard from squad 11 arrived to assist in the combat, effectively preventing everybody from dying and defeating the hollow forces before they could kill a significant portion of the population.

In the battle, the two squads were so successful as to have only let a mere few dozen souls be devoured by the hollows, which is even more impressive when you take into account how spread out the attack was. Yumiko herself was praised for her use of unit-focused blitzkrieg attacks and mid-battle recon support instead of the full-frontal charge usually used in these types of battles. It was also after this particularly good battle that, on her way back to the Seireitei, the folk of her home area followed up on their promise to give her a magnificent gift for her service to them. What they had finally decided upon was an emblem.

The smithy of the town she grew up in had used what bronze he could get his hands on after arming the civilians to create a badge/emblem. An upside-down pentagon about half the size of her head that depicts a crane taking flight while holding a Higanbana in its mouth, with a shield strapped on its back. "Rukongai West 32 ~ Nishimura-koken" is printed in old japanese at the top. It's a little heavy, but at least now people would know she's not just full of it.

From then on, she proudly wore the emblem on her right arm near the shoulder like a lieutenant badge. However, there was some protest to wearing it back at the barracks. After they had returned with the spoils of congratulatory food, the proof of many dead hollows, and an unfortunate uniform, the captain had no choice but to scold them for disobeying orders and acting out of line so as to allow a teammate to die. However, Yumiko taking all of the blame and showing their results that had reduced fatality rates dramatically below expectation had made him doubt the hasty judgement (or at least, that's how she saw it). Although they were all still lightly punished for misconduct, he allowed them to do their thing from then on out.

He also had something to say about that emblem, which he predictably called a "mockup lieutenant badge" and, like the vanguard, disallowed at first. Some quick persuading and the backstory behind it (plus them knowing that she would do it anyways) made him at least accept and ignore it. Even after this, they had no real contempt for one another and merely had a very complicated association.

Yet, despite her progress thus far, Toshiro had not succeeded in improving her attitude to any great degree. In fact, everything he had tried was shortly reversed either by her bullheadedness or the influence of people like Taeko, whose presence still had not been revealed. She also had still not given those damn maps back. That's why, in a meeting between Toshiro, Shunsui, Ukitake, Mayuri, Zaraki, and Tosen; they had decided that she wasn't making any progress.

They all sat in one of the 1st Division's meeting rooms at a table, chattily sipping up tea and alcohol while discussing their formal matters. Eventually, Toshiro mentioned Yumiko, and Shunsui had a sudden interest.

He addressed the matter of her Zanpakuto, "So she still can't use its first release? Weren't you supposed to help her there?" He promptly takes a sip from his dish.

Toshiro looks quite offended, "I was never told to do that! I've been worried more about her behavior."

"And has that improved?" Shunsui jabs, already knowing the answer just from Toshiro's reaction.

He looks to the side and grits his teeth, "Not really. Something keeps undoing it, and I'm beginning to think it's just her nature."

"Well, maybe she needs a more relaxed figurehead." Shunsui offers, sitting back as if to accentuate his relaxedness.

"Another transfer!?" Hitsugaya assumes "Don't you think that's a bit sudden? I mean, she practically just came from Zaraki's division!"

Kenpachi Zaraki stays silent as always, but at that moment vaguely turns his head towards the two and simply asks, "Could you not get me involved in this?"

"Yeah, yeah, we all know you don't like these meetings. Just endure it." Shunsui argues with him, but then turns to Toshiro "As for her, don't worry about it. You know I won't falter to help a young lady in need."

Toshiro considers it for a moment, then replies, "I recall being told that she should really be with Ukitake."

The captain in question pops in, "What was that?"

Toshiro explains, "Rangiku told me that this girl's friend was in your squad, so it seems logical to put her there."

Ukitake and Shunsui talk it over privately for a minute or two, after which Shunsui speaks up, "How about you send her to me first? I'll see if I can't do anything with those couple issues and then we'll put her in a permanent spot with Ukitake. Besides, it's not like you can help much when you've got trouble with your own sword."

Hitsugaya continues to mull it over, but eventually concedes, "I suppose you do have more experience. I'll get started with the arrangements and notify her of the change. I just hope you'll have a measurable success compared to myself."

Shunsui immediately retracts his previous criticisms, "Oh, don't beat yourself up over it. Just focus on your own problems for once."

Just as Toshiro is about to respond, Mayuri interjects, "Excuse me, but I also have a vested interest in this subject!"

"Oh boy." Shunsui complains, downing the rest of his drink in preparation for dealing with Mayuri.

Mayuri stands and begins to narrate, "One of my disciples has been observing data on this girl since we found her amongst the Rukon rabble nearly a decade ago. Since then, he has greatly interested me with the subject's ownership of a Zanpakuto before even entering the academy!"

Suddenly, the other captains perk up. Toshiro sounds shocked, "Before...?"

"Yes, it seems that this little one had her sword well before she should have!" Mayuri confirms "We've been keeping a close eye on her specifically for that, so I hope you'll indulge me when I ask if you would allow us to acquire data on her progress!"

Shunsui has a very visible headache already, but he agrees just to get Mayuri off of his case, "I guess. It's not like you won't do it anyways." He then whispers under his breath, "You aren't even part of this..."

"You won't regret it." Mayuri insists with a satisfied grin plastered across his face.

Shunsui groans, thinking to himself, _"Somehow, I doubt that."_

And so it was decided there of what they would do with her. Afterwards, they moved on to other matters and idle banter.

And so it was decided there of what they would do with her. Afterwards, they moved on to other matters and idle banter. Surely enough, Yumiko was notified by Toshiro just a day after the discussion that she would be once again transferred, this time to the 8th Division. She appreciated the early warning, but was still visibly upset that it was happening again. They carried on as usual, with Yumiko's only real farewell being to the members of the Nishimura Vanguard 10-1 who had to deal with choosing a new leader for the subdivision. By the end, there really wasn't much to do but leave, and she did. It was then that she realized just how little happened in those two years.

* * *

 _ **Will Yumiko finally be able to speak to her sword spirit? Will she achieve Shikai? Will Shunsui make a move on her? Will Mayuri act even creepier? How many omake can I make from this chapter? What was the battle that gave Yumiko her emblem like? Will she ever be reunited with Kokoro and the Masamunes? Is Taeko really a good guy? Where is this all heading?**_

 _ **Some of these questions will be answered next time, on Bleach: Nikushimi no Ya!**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy!**_


	7. Act 0 CH5 Omake 1: Token of Appreciation

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 5 OMAKE:**

 **TOKEN OF APPRECIATION**

October 2nd, 1991; afternoon, West Rukongai District 34: A garganta opens up in the sky directly above the more populated township of the district where the peasants below are packing up and returning home for the day. Collectively, they gradually notice the giant black rift opening in the sky in plain view. The same happens in 31, 32, and 33: all have gargantas prying themselves open in the sky. From each, 10 various hollows fall before it closes back up, and they land, sending screeches across the miles and miles of countryside that make the majority of the outer precipice of each district.

Yumiko rings up the rest of her Vanguard squad form the Denreishinki as she spies through a telescope on the roof of the 10th Division's barracks. To each, she says, "Get your sword and report to our meeting spot as soon as possible." She speaks it robotically, as if over a radio during a military alert.

Within a minute, her and 6 other low-ranking shinigami arrive together at their meeting place near the far western gates in District 1. Four of them are rank-and-file soldiers of mixed gender and equally bland attire. Two of them are 20th seat officers who share the position with one other that couldn't be convinced, and both are male. Yumiko stands before them and makes role call, "Hayashida Saemon...Shiraki Kozue...Sasuke Maresuke...Suko Sanjuro...Umemoto Fumimaru...Kurokawa Maresuke!"

Each person yells when their name is called. Hayashida Saemon: a middle-aged-looking man who fancies a head full of black dreadlocks, is only decently tall, not actually very intimidating, and carries a yellow Katana with a five-point-star-shaped guard.

Shiraki Kozue: A much younger gentleman who looks more korean with darker-than-average skin and is quite concerned with appearing clean. His hair is neatly chopped like a short hime cut, and he has a very soft figure. He carries a Katana with a guard shaped like an Ouroboros that is scrupulously scrubbed to a shine.

Sasuke Maresuke: One of the officers; another younger man with distinctly long, brownish hair that drapes his back in a ponytail. He seems like your typical samurai build, complete with battle damage. He hides behind a Harimaki Do built into his Shihakusho and a Kabuto helmet with a tengu mask. He wields a nodachi as his zanpakuto, which has a guard shaped like two wings.

Suko Sanjuro: An elderly man who seems to have joined the Seireitei on his deathbed. While elderly, he still stands without help and does it proudly despite his seemingly frail body and humble look. This man has few words for anyone around him and acts like a stone-cold killer. He weilds a tanto with a square guard cut into four quadrants as his Zanpakuto.

Umemoto Fumimaru: The other officer. He looks to be Chinese, about 40 years of age, and is part blind, so he must rely on all of his other senses to confront danger. He wears a greatly reduced shihakusho to assist in this, so he isn't the most proper sight of the bunch. He wields a katana shorter than average with a guard in the shape of a horizontal cross.

Kurokawa Maresuke: The sister of Sasuke Maresuke who also outfits herself in a Harimaki Do and Kabuto helmet with a female Oni mask. She does not carry a sword, but instead a Bo-staff with iron caps on its ends. Like her brother, she holds her darker brown hair in a somewhat longer ponytail. Unlike her brother, she shows no signs of previous battle injuries. The two barely speak under normal circumstances.

After role-call, Yumiko stomps her foot on the ground and pivots, now facing the Rukongai, "If you will all look at your radars, you'll notice four large blips in the distance. From my calculations, there are 4 squads of hollows; 10 each." She turns towards them again and starts pointing, "Hayashida and Sharaki, you two take the squad in 34. Maresukes, you two go after the ones in 33. Suko, you approach 31. Umemoto, you're with me; we're going to 32." They all pair up and bow, then charge forth on her word.

* * *

Suko Sanjuro is the first to reach his destination: the central square of the largest town in the 31st district. Curiously, there don't seem to be any disturbances nearby. In fact, the populous are utterly oblivious to their surroundings for the most part. He takes another look at his radar; there are definitely at least 8 blips nearby. They're not moving for the most part, so he simply hops up onto a nearby roof and sits there, watching the screen intently.

Nearly 15 minutes pass without a single movement, and so he's just about to give up and dismiss it as a false positive. That is, until one of the blips suddenly appears directly behind his position. He whips around while yelling, "Hado 31: Shakkaho!" A massive fireball materializes in his hand and fires off in a split second, slamming into an invisible mass just a few meters away from him. The hollow's natural cloak fizzles out, revealing its ugly exterior: A massive, 6-armed, lanky beast resembling a centipede with the head of a deformed bird's skull. The entire body is covered in long, pointy hairs colored tar-black that would allow it to blend in with the darkness if it were night. When struck, it cries with a shrill screech that forces the nearby souls to cover their ears, but Suko barely flinches.

He flings out another spell, "Bakudo 9: Geki!" and a huge, red light scalds the beast. It falls to the shingles of the roof and can barely support itself, only just barely able to move. This means nothing, however, as Suko draws his sword and swifly plants it inside of the hollow's mask with an ear-raping scrape. Shortly thereafter, he plants a finger on the blade an commands, "Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden." In a quick flash, the sword vibrates with electricity that flows directly into the hollow, making it convulse and grumble while its whole body starts falling apart at the seams.

When Soku turns back around to address the people, he finds that they've already fled and presumably hid in their homes. The entire area feels like a ghost town...until the remaining hollows reveal themselves. There are 9 more, all the same as the last, and one even bigger. They all cling to the buildings like parasites and begin to make their way towards him.

He whispers, "Tsk, tsk, tsk; you amateurs need to learn a lesson in tactics. _Zofukuki..._ " He holds his sword out as it transforms into its released state: A square chakram held in the center by four rods. He continues to hold it out and recite in full, "O lord, mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man..."

The hollows start to speed up, closing in and gather in the central square like a tidal wave of arms and hair; a black mass that crashes through buildings with reckless abandon.

"...truth and temperance, upon the sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Amplified Hado 73: Soren Sokatsui Zofukuki!" Upon finishing the incantation, the chakram glows bright blue and channels the power of Soren Sokatsui, but takes from Soku and the environment around him and powers it up by an utterly massive amount. He waits, letting it charge up to its fullest potential for as long as he can afford. The beasts are only seconds away, and he finally decides to unleash it.

With a quick twist, the blade emits two cones of blue fires so wide and bright that they appear to be one; it sears them so badly that the sound of burning flesh can be heard by those even blocks away. It not only engulfs the entire hollow mass in an incinerating wall, but nearly pierces the ground with its sheer strength. The ground itself becomes singed and starts melting into molten dirt where the hands of the hollows start sinking into. The entire square has been nearly obliterated by the heat, but it continues to spew forth for just several moments. Soon, it sputters and fades into nothing. He gazes upon the wrathful destruction that is the pit of lava that the mass of hollows is slowly roasting in, though most of them have been utterly roasted to the point of missing limbs. He turns away, dissatisfied with the lack of challenge that the hollows posed.

And then he hears a crunching sound. Turning around, he notices that the biggest of the hollows is _eating the others._ As it rips its maw open and devours the others who are now slowly dying anyways. It starts to heal, and then quickly grow, and soon becomes strong enough to simply ignore the pool of lava it sits in! Soku prepares for another charge, but finds himself dumbstruck when the eyes of the beast glow red and fires beams of thin light that drag across the rooftops where he stands and diverge rapidly like reverse scissors.

"A...cero?" he only has time to guess before everything the beams touched suddenly explodes in a flurry of dark-red plasmic death! The entire top-half of the building he's standing on and many more are instantly and completely destroyed. In response, the hollow screams like a banshee while still growing even larger; its arms becoming bulkier and more numerous. It arcs its body up into the sky, continuing its screams, firing ceros into the air in victory.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hayashida and Sharaki arrive in the 34th district, which is where the quality of life really starts going downhill. The area that the hollows have decided to invade is a fairly huge farm ripe with famine and a sparse population. The two look around silently, observing their radars and moving purely by them. Hayashida, the more mature of the two, reminisces, "You know, I grew up in a place like this. Not as bad, but still deep in the country." Sharaki, who hasn't heard his voice much before, is surprised by just how deep it is; like that a whale's. He spends a moment taking that in, and another questioning, "How did you live like that?"

Hayashida stops and glances back at the substantially less burly young man and dismisses that, "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that."

Sharaki grumbles and insists, "I'm serious, how?"

With a sigh, Hayashida at least responds with a hint of nostalgia in his tone, "A lot of work. You get used to it."

Sharaki spots the tone and skips all the busy-talk, "Yet you chose to go to the Seireitei?"

Being reserved, Hayashida simply responds, "Though it would be better — you don't know how it is."

"You're right," Sharaki admits "but we both joined this team for a reason, right?"

Hayashida falls silent. He nods with a sigh, returning to the scouting. However, they need not venture far as an elderly farmhand runs up to the two and starts shouting something about a huge, black and white boar tormenting his horses. The two decide to follow him to the stable, only to find that the horses had not only been spooked, but have been ravaged by the beast! Several corpses lay strewn around the open field with a pitch-black boar the size of its prey standing over a recently mauled corpse. It notices the two shinigami, turning and revealing a white hollow mask covering the top-half of its face that traces out the contours of the pig's face below albeit with much sharper and more ornate eye holes than necessary.

Hayashida turns to Shiraki, gesturing to look at the radar. The latter confirms, "There's more than this one. Looks like a herd of them isn't far from here." Hayashida nods and tells Shiraki to stay close and watch the boar while he tries to overpower it. He hops over the fence like he's done it a hundred times before and starts to slowly walk towards the boar, which starts to squeal at him and rear up, poised to charge when he gets too close. It comes much sooner than expected; he only needs to walk within full, clear sight of it before it becomes aggressive!

The animal charges at him without a care or plan, and instead of leaping to the side, Hayashida stands his ground with arms outstretched and ready to impose on the enemy. Meanwhile, Shiraki jumps up on the fence and into the field, then circles around the two, well enough away to avoid being seen.

The charge is quick and hefty, powerful enough to immediately make Hayashida second-guess the current plan. Stubbornly, he decides to stick to moments before the beast slams directly into him, and he catches the boar by its tusks with his bare hands! He slides back quite a ways away as the boar pushes with its entire weight to overpower him, and nearly succeeds if not for him suddenly twisting its head to the side hard enough to topple the pig over entirely! He staggers back afterwards, still fatigued from just catching that thing.

Though it's his queue, Shiraki is distracted by the sheer might that his teammate just displayed. He stares at him, bug-eyed, but stops and notices the boar once it starts struggling to get up. He rushes over with his sword drawn and manages to slam it into the gut of the pig before it can topple back over! He drags the stuck blade along its underside and watches in disgust as black blood begins gushing from the wound! Not only that, but he nearly vomits when he sees that the blood seems to be infested with maggots of some sort. Not normal ones, but monstrous hollow-maggots! He pulls back and wretches, trying hard to spit up the disgust but failing.

Hayashida too is disgusted, but keeps calm and gets back up, backing away and sticking out his hand, "Hey, get away from it! Those things are fucking growing!" Surely enough, the maggots are not only pouring out by the dozens, but steadily growing in size like bloated ticks poised to explode at a moment's notice. Shiraki instinctively sprints in the opposite direction, ignoring the massive fireballs that Hayashida is now spamming into the cluster. Several explosions in, he stops, and his companion turns around to notice that the body of the boar is practically seared to a fine crisp while the maggots are shriveled and lifeless. The blood is dried and stained on the ground, and the corpses are slowly dissolving.

The two stand and breathe heavily, glad for it to finally be over. Their victory is short-lived, as another and even larger boar with huge horns on its mask comes barging into the field and plows straight into Shiraki! He goes flying through the air and lands squarely on his back without a sound, but Hayashida takes notice regardless and pulls out his sword to deal with this one. The beast who had plowed through is backed by what appears to be a massive, cloaked, humanoid figure. It adorns a shoddy brimmed hat, and holds in its disproportionate hand a whip. In the other, a lantern. Within its cloak, he can see a hollow mask looking like a much more rigid human skull. The giant, standing at least 4 men tall, whips at the boar and causes it to go into a frenzy! The beast squeals repeatedly, charging at Hayashida much more quickly than than the last one.

He waits for it to draw close, and just as it's about to hit, he flash-steps to the side and lets his blade slide along the side of it, making an awful scraping noise! He looks back in surprise, noticing that the beast has some sort of carapace covering its whole body — all except for the underside. Not only is the pig angered by its miss, but the giant is too; he whips to the side and groans angrily at the boar, which turns around and rears up once again! It charges with just a short span to speed up, and is easily side-stepped again. Hayashida bides his time for now, waiting to see how he can topple the beast over...

His time runs short very quickly, however. Another giant comes lurching in from the distance, much more aggressively than the other one! He starts thinking back on some of the spells he learned at the academy, and comes up with one that just might help...

The boar, passing by him a fifth time, keeps shortening its charge length in every iteration. Soon, it's nearly standing still and flailing about; so he takes advantage of its stillness and backs up, placing a hand on the ground and reciting, "Hado 23: Futto Retsu." A red glow is placed where he holds his hand, then he backs up again and snaps his fingers to get the boar's attention. It works like a charm, and it reacts predictably: another ramming attack. This time, however, the boar runs right over the glowing spot on the ground and is almost instantly toppled by a huge column-shaped explosion that goes off in that exact spot! It falls onto its back, and is swiftly dispatched with another stab-and-drag from Hayashida's sword. More maggots start to spill out just like the last one, but he can barely focus on them when the more aggressive giant behind him suddenly sprouts wings and dives towards his position!

Shiraki reaches forward and yells, "Behind you!" while attempting to shoot off a Byakurai to at least stun the giant. The lightning bolt strikes its wing from the back, which doesn't stun but instead provokes him! Hayashida turns around to meet the beast, swiping his sword across its body and leaping backwards at the same time. It just barely misses him, and then turns its attention to the younger man. Its gaze pierces his very soul, and so he's at a total loss for action. The giant starts to leap and glide towards him, with his current plan of action merely being to run away. He searches for an avenue, only finding the open field.

But then, a miracle. The elderly man who had brought them here at first leaps over the fence on a horse and swoops in, grabbing Shiraki by the wrist and pulling him up on horseback! "You best have a plan, kid!" he yells as they flee from the two giants that turn their attention back to Hayashida. Shiraki grits his teeth, "Keep us close, but not too close. I need to keep them away from him."

He obliges, and brings the horse slightly closer to the action. At that point, Shiraki begins to spam low-level Hado at the giants to grab their attention. It just barely works, and allows Hayashida to leap up and stab the winged one in the back of the head, ending it quickly. The other giant decides to throw the lantern it has at the two, however! It crashes into the ground in front of them, setting the immediate area alight and spooking the horse hard enough to make it buck them both off! The giant sprints towards Shiraki, grabbing him whole and lifting him up to eye-level. The beast wouldn't be too horrific, if not for it opening its mouth and revealing several smaller mouths within. Shiraki starts struggling, but can't even budge the fingers. In moments, its tiny mouths shoot out and latch onto him, biting his collarbone and shoulders, face and chest, all over until he's bleeding in several different ways.

But just in time, Hayashida catches up and lobs off one of the giant's legs in a single fell swoop! It lets go of Shiraki and topples over, allowing them to start recklessly wailing on the creature until it stops moving. Finally, the giants and boars were dead, but there were still more. The two help each other up and sigh. Hayashida remarks, "We've got our work cut out for us."

Shiraki just nods, and the two continue their battle...

* * *

In the 33rd district, the Maresuke siblings have reached their own destination: a tower of sorts where hundreds of souls have congregated to stay safe from a firebrand group of hollows that have managed to burn down plenty of dwellings in just a short amount of time. The two gaze upon the sight of dozens of eldritch-lizard-hybrid hollows crawling up the tower and belching out ashes; covering the building from base to top. A few can be seen from there spewing fire into the air after spotting the shinigami.

The siblings take that as a sign to act; they nod at each other and cross their weapons together. Kurokawa yells, "Fudosan, Lightning!" while Sasuke yells, "Tomaranai-Ryuko, Storm!" They both then yell in unison, "Fukanona Kumiawase!"

Kurokawa's weapon quickly morphs into that of an electrified Sasumata while Sasuke's turns into a Naginata whirling wind around itself like the eye of a hurricane. The two staves clasp together and conduct into each other, becoming swathed in dust, crackling electricity, and some unbridled force rivaling a thunderstorm in the tiny area around their blades. They both point the combined weapons at the tower and part the blades with a strike, sparks flying around like flint striking steel. The cloud ignites and sends a swirling vortex of scorching dust, powerful wind, and streams of lightning into the hordes of hollows charging straight at them! One after another, soon all at once in the devilish tornado do they get swept up and scoured; burnt to crisps at the very act of being engulfed by the attack!

The siblings stand and watching menacingly, stoically while their enemies are torn asunder with a mere flick of their weapons combined. Yet, more remain. The remaining lizards leap down from the building and open their mouths, screeching and chirping like cicadas while their tentacle tongues flip about! The dead bodies of the lizards that had been turned to ash rise once more and start to morph into abominable lumps of grey that rear back and hiss at the two.

Sasuke mocks, "Hmph. They think they can avoid death. Kurokawa, how should we deal with them?"

Kurokawa asseses the situation while casually slamming her sasumata against the neck of one of the ashen lizards, slamming it into the ground and pinning it. Her brother approaches and beheads it while it's pinned in time for a response, "Beat off the dead ones while I pin the living, then come finish them off. We'll destroy the persistent ones with another Fukanona Kumiawase afterwords."

"Good plan." Sasuke agrees and nods, then flourishes his naginata to the side to send a powerful gust of vaporous wind into several lizards that fall apart at the seams. The two stick to each other like glue and begin making their way towards the 6 living lizards that continuously revive the rest of their comrades. Nothing seems to stop them, with Sasuke batting the ashen lizards away like they're nothing, and every stomp of Kurokawa's sasumata on the ground making a electrical nova that paralyzes and disintegrates every enemy it touches. They tank right through the enemy offense like unstoppable demons, appearing even more threatening than their foe by virtue of appearance alone.

Every lizard that leaps towards her is grappled by the blade, as if they are somehow unable to parry it at all, and slammed into the dirt where they are finished off by the sheer force. Every one that makes it past her view is cut down and blown away by the unrelenting force created by Sasuke's blade.

After seemingly ages of walking, the two grow tired of enduring the onslaught and rush; now close enough to one living lizard for Kurokawa to lunge forward and grab it by the face, smashing it uncomfortably into the ground. No matter how much it struggles, nor how much more powerful it is than her, it cannot possibly escape Fudosan's grip. While it is held down, Sasuke approaches and raises his pole, contently slamming it down on the hollow's neck and almost instantly killing it. The other hollows who witness this and the futility of their assault shriek in terror, giving up their attack and simply running away.

Yet, they do not allow them to escape. Kurokawa points her pole at them and mercilessly orders, " **Kami no Hari.** " The prongs crackle with electricity, and then start to rapidly spit out thin bolts of lightning that haphazardly lash out at the fleeing beasts! Most of the ashen ones are immediately destroyed, and only a few of the living ones manage to escape with their lives into the ruins of the destroyed township. Sasuke places a hand on her arm after they flee and forces it down. The two look at each other through their masks and put their weapons down.

"Our work is done," Sasuke says, "let's head back to Nishimura-koken and assist."

Kurokawa shakes her head, "I'll go, you escort the survivors out of that tower."

There's no convincing her, so he painfully agrees and leaves her to her own devices.

Suddenly, beams of light shoot up into the sky from the distance. Two thin, but extremely long beams of red light sprout into the sky and sweep down and to the sides, parting even the clouds with their immense power! One manages to sweep onto the Seireitei's barrier which suffers a massive explosion just seconds later that even those hundreds of miles away would be able to see. The two stare at the sky after it's done, completely in shock that such a powerful beast may lie in the earlier districts. They start to worry about whether the others will be okay or not. Kurokawa immediately retracts her previous dictation, "Sasuke, I changed my mind. This just got serious."

* * *

Finally, we come to District 32: Yumiko's home which she has just finished protecting from a very stubborn bunch of bulky but not particularly threatening hollows. She, along with Umemoto stand side-by-side on the roof of one of many nondescript dwellings in utter disrepair. People no longer roam the streets by now, and have all fled the area by their orders. After finishing dispatching the last of the beasts with a nice arrow shot to the eye socket, Yumiko turns to her companion and comments, "Never seen something like that before." while pointing at his sword which has morphed into a threaded cane.

"What, my performance?" he asks in a thick Chinese accent, facing her with eyes closed.

She taps his cane with her sword, "No, this thing."

"Oh! Yes, my cane! I was rather surprised that it came this way as well; it's not really a very wieldy weapon for me."

"Imaginable." Yumiko agrees, and the two fall very silent. Just in time, another group of people bearing the logo of the Zaraki Squad barge in on the two, with one bald strongman announcing their presence, "Nishimura Vanguard 11-1 is here, where are the bad guys!?" Yumiko can smell the alcohol on his breath from a dozen paces away.

"You missed the action." she tells them bluntly.

On queue, almost every one of them groan in disappointment. Yumiko can barely find the ability to care, however, as she doesn't really recognize any of them. So she asks, "So you guys are the ones that came of my little group?"

One skinnier guy stands and speaks, but it turns out she's just a very androgynous tomboy, "Yeah, we heard the stories about how much action there was and just kind of..."

Yumiko holds her hand up, "Say no more. I'm just surprised it's still together. You're all a little slow, though."

They don't seem to like that, and reply mostly with sour looks and scoffs. She adds, "Maybe I can teach you all how to hurry." They like that more, but are still bummed out by the failure to appear on time.

Yumiko shrugs, but her attention is grabbed by dual beams of red firing off in the distance and blasting the skies apart, then sending its explosive power into the Seireitei's barrier! Everyone around them swipe their heads towards the disturbance in time to see the smoke beginning to rise. Yumiko mumbles to herself, "That...that looks like it came from about a district away...Suko?"

She's about to leap towards the action, but Umemoto stops her with the blunt of his cane, "Stay. If he needs our help, he will come to us." She stops reluctantly and sits on the roof, silently waiting for the moment of truth.

Minutes later, the Maresuke siblings appear out of nowhere behind Yumiko and simply stand there, waiting for her to notice them. Doesn't take long, she just happens to turn around at the right time, "Oh, you two. Sit, we're waiting for Suko to drag the enemy back here. Should be any moment now."

The two comply, sighing and sitting with their weapons on the side. After a bit, Yumiko gets a call on her Denreishinki from Suko. Picking up, she is immediately assaulted by the screams of the hollow currently chasing him as he screams, " _I'M COMING YOUR WAY! AS YOU CAN PROBABLY HEAR, THIS ONE'S BIG AND MEAN, SO GET READY!_ " He abruptly hangs up and she is left a little dumbstruck at the sudden noise. She looks back at the device and casually sends out an SOS signal for any other Shinigami in the vicinity to pick up. She stands back up and announces to everyone to get their weapons ready and in their best form possible.

Not even a minute later, they can see the massive cloud of dust being whipped up from the evolving hollow chasing Suko down. It's coming in fast, so she comes up with a quick plan, "11-1, you guys get into a wall formation and threaten, make sure it doesn't get past you! Maresukes, you get onto the side of them and hide; pop out and pin it down when they stop it! Umemoto, go ahead and hide in one of the buildings the next block over! I'll hang out in the distance on top of that town hall's tower and take shots at it! Keep a defensive stance until I give the word and above all: don't die!"

The soldiers move into place at her word, swiftly taking cover from the soon-to-come disaster of a crash. They only have seconds to get settled in before Suko and the hollow come crashing into the wall that the other 11-1 squad formed! He hops above them and dives beneath the building while the others send their weapons charging into the face of the beast! It screams and holds its head high, backing up as its eyes start to shimmer in the storm of dust it's kicked up. Yumiko recognizes this light and decides not to take any chances. She quickly knocks an arrow and pulls back to full draw, immediately letting go and sending the arrow flying into the glowing parts where it strikes soon enough to make it flinch! It lets off its beams that swipe across the landscape and obliterate all that they touch, but are weaker than what they last saw and completely miss the others.

The beam manages to swipe across the tower Yumiko stands on and blows it clean in half, forcing her to leap off of it and flash step onto another, lower building still far from the action. Behind her the building starts to collapse in on itself, making another dust storm that will hopefully conceal her location. After the shroud surrounding it is dissipated, it is revealed to be the bird-like creature that Suko had previously been fighting, but now morphed into having many more and smaller arms, more eye sockets covering its mask, tiny and razor-sharp teeth, and the hairs on its body being replaced by limbs that kick and squirm under the stress of its movements.

The shinigami from Squad 11 are helpless to the horror, so shocked with its appearance that they can't pry away long enough to perform an attack! Fortunately, the Maresukes are not fazed. They leap up from the streets below and plunge down, with Korokawa's staff slamming into the back of the creature and pinning it to the ground utterly effortlessly while Sasuke's spears it whole in one minor thrust like a hot knife cutting through snow. This creature's body smashes through the building that lies before it, and nearly knocks the others off of their feet! Meanwhile, Umemoto leaps in from behind and lands on its back, whipping his threaded cane around its neck and choking it out while lacerating the skin.

Unfortunately for him, the beast has the ability to rotate its head 180 degrees. It twists its neck, nearly breaking it in the process, and its eyes gleam once more while aiming at him. Yumiko notices the glint and quickly hops up to fire another arrow from afar. The missile spears his face, making it writhe in pain while its head flails about and throws its beams in every direction, destroying everything around them! The siblings are almost crushed by the debris it flings around and decide to simply flee for now, but the hollow also manages to catch Umemoto before he can leave by grabbing his ankles with its body's extra limbs, then apparently smashing him between its primary arms!

Suddenly, all falls silent. Suko makes his way back to Yumiko's position and asks for directions. The only response he gets is her asking, "What the hell is that thing?"

He groans, "It was a normal hollow, but I must have pushed it too far, because it started cannibalizing its brethren. I'm guessing it's starting its transformation into a high-level hollow. Should be a Menos, but it might be trying to skip that phase and go straight to..." He stops, contemplating the hypothesis. "No, that's impossible."

"What?" Yumiko demands to know.

"An Adjuchas. But that can't be, that's a bunch of Gillian eating each other; something that it will regress to unless sated. it can't possibly skip such an important part of the life cycle..."

Yumiko, meanwhile, barely knows what an Adjuchas is. Regardless, this still-evolving and rapidly regenerating beast rises back up as if it had never been injured. It screams into the clouds, letting off another, much weaker dual cero blast that accomplishes nothing but showing off how pissed it is. In its hand is Umemoto, which it throws into the ground below with unbelievable strength!

"Oh yeah, it just regenerates whatever damage you do. Even my amplified Kido couldn't permanently hurt it." Suko adds as an afterthought.

Yumiko whips her head around to him and shouts, "Couldn't you have told me that earlier!?"

He decides not to answer, instead suggesting that they try gathering their strongest together and overpowering it with a combination attack while they wait for backup. Yumiko shakes her head, "Already tried brute force, remember? I'm sure that if you couldn't overpower its healing, it can't be done."

"Well...can't argue with that. So what do we do?" he wonders aloud.

Yumiko falls silent, unable to think of how they could possibly beat this seemingly invincible foe. It takes her a moment, but she finally thinks of something, indicated by her holding the denreishinki up and making its flashlight strobe, signalling the siblings to come to them; they respond in mere moments.

"Yes?" Sasuke and Kurokawa ask in unison.

"Pin it down again. This time aim for the head. Don't bother with the body, it's pointless." Yumiko orders.

"Anything to tell the rookies?" Kurokawa adds.

"Yes, tell them to distract it while you act and to cut off its arms after you've pinned it down."

The two nod, and move to execute. First, they flash-step to the awestruck warriors from Squad 11 and give them their orders. They shake out of their daze and leap down from the building where they begin to hack away at the hollow's feet! It works vaguely, as it's quite annoyed by the pricks they give it and tries to reach below to swipe them away. It swats them by the whole, but they just keep getting back up and slashing at it until such time as the Sasuke and Kurokawa can climb up its back. The sister plants her Sasumata at the back of its head and jumps, forcing her whole weight down on it! The hollow falls to the ground face-first, its head getting implanted in the dirt! Yumiko grins, running towards it and beckoning Suko to follow.

"Suko, use Sokatsui and burn its torso!" she yells at him, to which he nods and flash-steps towards the site of the battle. She meanwhile pulls out her bow and stops to take a shot at its face to keep it from letting out another Cero.

In a quick bout of smart thinking, Kurokawa releases her grip on the beast for a moment to slam the butt of the staff into its back and send a massive electrical current through its body that paralyses its limbs long enough for the others to get up and start hacking away. She plants the other end back into its head afterwards and allows her brother to slowly slice its head to pieces.

In less than half a minute, the others have already lobbed off its arms and legs, and continue to slice at them while it tries to regenerate. Soku arrives soon after and begins to roast its core with a sustained Sokatsui using his shikai, which effectively prevents it from being able to react in any manner. Finally, Yumiko arrives to deliver the final blow. She leaps from the top of the roof above and plunges her sword into the forehead of this monstrosity at the same time as Sosuke. She then commands, "Sosuke, Kurokawa, blast it!" They comply, each starting to charge up their weapons for the incineration.

Before they can even utter the first words, however, a Garganta opens up in the sky above them. " _ **Everyone get out of the way NOW!**_ " Yumiko screams at the others at the top of her lungs as yet another hollow descends like a spider from the dimensional rift. Everyone hops out of the way and tries to flee, but can't pry their eyes away from the sight: a massive, lanky, bird-like, sludge-covered hollow whose neck extends unnaturally from the shadows to reveal its mask: a pure white, blank mask with only two eye holes that could fool anyone into thinking it's made of porcelain.

It gazes around and down at the corpse of the nearly dead hollow and speaks, " **ANOTHER MEAL.** " It reaches down with its immense claws and scoops up the dying hollow, then begins to absorb it into his body as it cries in terror. The blank hollow shivers shortly after consuming the dying one, and then turns its head around to meet Yumiko's gaze. It doesn't say anything, it just stares, and she stares back with eyes dilated and wide open in disbelief. They gaze at each other for a full half minute, but it soon detects an incoming presence and decides to leave. It parts after twisting the blank space on its mouth into a smile purely to fuck with her. The others can feel it too; a captain-level shinigami approaching very rapidly, so rapidly in fact that he gets there just as the familiar hollows sinks back into his rift.

In a very nasally voice and annoyed tone, the captain complains, "Oh, great! We missed it. This is what happens when you dilly-dally around in the sub-basement looking for spare parts, Nemu!"

Yumiko whips her head towards the voice so quickly that it gives her minor whiplash, and spots the most absurd and uncomfortable sight imaginable: Mayuri Kurotsuchi. The only reason she doesn't say anything is because he plainly wears his Captain's Haori and doesn't even look like the type of person anybody should be talking to without good reason. Regardless, he decides to intervene by calling her attention, "You over there, the girl who already looks dead!"

Yumiko is still a bit overcome with shock, but at least musters a weak, "Huh?"

The captain jumps down and approaches her, "Yes, you. Don't look at me like that, pay attention! You're going to tell me exactly what happened here, understand?" His stone-faced lieutenant follows behind.

"...What? Who are you, again?" Yumiko absentmindedly asks, intentionally ignoring his status.

Mayuri gets irate, " _Why you little...!_ " He raises his hand to smack her, but realizes how bad of an idea that would be and instead turns around to slap Nemu, who barely reacts. "Nemu, question the others! I think I'm going to be here for a while."

Yumiko flinches and scowls at the captain's outburst, and doesn't even try to hide her disgust towards him. He turns back around and reluctantly introduces himself, "You will address me as Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division! Now, divulge to me the events that transpired here so that I may... _study them._ "

Yumiko decides to get on his nerves, "Okay, _Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division._ Basically, _Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division,_ there were a bunch of squads of hollows that decided to invade the general area, and so we just decided to split up and deal with them. Well, _Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division,_ that didn't really play out how we expected. Turns out that there was a really powerful one trying to transform into a Menos, so we just cut it up into mince meat. But _THEN_ there was this other hollow that came out of a portal of some sort and ate the other one."

By now, she's said the full title so much that the captain is visibly growing annoyed at her shenanigans. He regretably persists, " _And what about the Cero?_ " She tilts her head at him, making him grind his teeth together and explain in layman's terms, "The giant beams of light it was firing in every direction, you drooling idiot!"

"Now now, _Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division,_ don't go getting angry like that! You'll set a bad example for the rookies, right _Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th Division?_ "

His eye twitches, but he realizes her intentions and just backs out, "I can see I'm not going to get anything useful out of a child such as yourself." He gives up and walks away, not savvy on being mocked any further.

Suko walks over to her and comments, "That joke ran on a bit too long."

"That's the point." she corrects him.

"You're also going to get branded for that." he adds.

"Worth it." she counters.

* * *

As the captain and his lieutenant are waltzing around and butting into everybody's business, Hayashida and Shiraki come limping back from their battle, covered in black hollow blood and fairly injured but clearly victorious from their wide smiles and glad waves. They greet Yumiko and tell her about the boars, giants, elk, and other assortments of mimic hollows that they had to deal with, her all the more impressed since neither of them have achieved shikai yet. Everyone else gathers back around after being interrogated and begin to search the area for Umemoto, eventually finding his body amongst the rubble of the well-fought battle. Nobody expected him to make it out of this one, but they're all disappointed at how easily he got beaten down by that thing. They know his corpse would soon disintegrate and return to the world of the living, so they simply gather his uniform and Zanpakuto to present to Toshiro later and then bury the body back in the countryside where it wouldn't be bothered.

On the way back, Yumiko is stopped before she exits the 32nd District by a familiar voice. She turns around to see a small crowd of people gathering, and closest to her is the smith from years and years ago that she hadn't seen in ages. In a rush of nostalgia, she's forced to grin at them. Even more-so, she finds herself in further inspection to be in that same little street that she had been living in for most of her early life, with almost everything intact. It gives a stark contrast to the destruction wrought deeper in the area, but that makes her even happier to know that nobody she knew was harmed.

"I suppose there's a reason you all have my attention?" she guesses towards nobody in particular.

Several villagers roll up a wheelbarrow filled with enough food for a three-course meal and then some, albeit of a bit lower quality than they're used to in the Seireitei. A plain-looking woman tells her, "You deserve this. If not for that stunt, we'd all be dead right now!"

Yumiko's expression grows soft compared to the stressful smile just after their victory. She stares blankly at them in an almost serene state, daydreaming about something. She stays like that until the smith who had been standing beside her hands her another gift, "Here, I promised to have something for you, didn't I?" He hands her a heavy, hard, cloth-covered object. She opens it up slowly...

Inside is an emblem; a bronze emblem in an upside-down pentagon shape; carved in it is a crane in mid-flight with a plucked Higanbana in its beak and a shield strapped to its back. Above the crane and near the top of the emblem is "Rukongai West 32 ~ Nishimura-koken" written in old, almost ancient Kanji that very few outside of Rukongai would be able to read. The entire emblem is made of finely polished Bismuth Bronze to give it a nice goldenrod color.

Yumiko stares down at it, grinning and blushing slightly, then looks back up at him. He explains, "Bismuth Bronze. That'll last you a lifetime and never tarnish. Let that be the symbol of our history."

Yumiko raises her eyebrow at him, "That's...embarrassing."

He chuckles playfully, "Well, I guess that's just what we do! It took us a while to come up with what to put on it, so be grateful."

"I am." she reaffirms him. Checking on the back, there's three slots to slide a band through. She takes the cloth it was wrapped in and folds it, then slides it through and wraps the whole thing around her left arm. She turns to her comrades and asks, "How does it look?"

They all give her a thumbs up.

She nods and signals them to take the wheelbarrow while she bids farewell to the townspeople. By the time they finish, and get back to the Seireitei, it's already almost night. And by the time they get back to the barracks of Squad 10, it _is_ night. That doesn't stop the captain from noticing their loot from his window and marching out to meet them, however.

* * *

He begins to approach them, only to notice how copiously drenched in gore and blood everybody is. The smell radiating from them is enough for him to keep his distance, but he still nags them, "Don't think I didn't hear about what you all were up to."

Yumiko decides to handle him, "Yeah? What of it?" She decides to be confrontational, unfortunately.

Toshiro retorts, "The 'what of it' is that you went out on a mission independant of my orders and wishes. I even told you not to go and form this little group of yours, didn't I?"

Yumiko rolls her eyes at him, "And what did we accomplish? Plenty of kills, fame, and even fortune!"

"And the losses?" Toshiro interrupts.

Yumiko sighs, "...A few injuries, and lost one."

"You lost one!?" Toshiro scolds, becoming increasingly angry with her recklessness.

"Nobody important." she reassures him, then resorts to criticism "Bet you wouldn't even remember his name."

Toshiro scowls, "You better have a good explanation for this."

"Oh, I do." Yumiko begins by clearing her throat, "We were attacked by a hollow powerful enough to apparently start transformation into a Gillian. We killed it before it could change, but in the process it managed to kill one of us. Got backup from Squad 11, too. Captain Kurotsuchi only managed to arrive after the battle was finished."

"Why didn't you wait for a proper response from Seireitei?" he barks at her with disregard.

Yumiko starts to grind her teeth in frustration, but can't take his attitude any more and blurts out, "Oh, _oh, right,_ like anyone in this ridiculous mess of a beurocracy could have possibly finished your damn Mojang games in time to respond to a threat like that after we spotted it! I sent out an SOS for good measure, you know that? And nobody came. _Nobody._ Not a single soul in your division besides my vanguard was there to beat those monsters into the ground! Why the hell should I even trust that you would care enough to do more than throw pawns around? Do you have _any idea_ of how powerful that enemy was? If we had waited for you or any of the assholes in this place to get there, the entire region could have been wiped off the map!"

By the end of her rant, Yumiko is nearly hyperventalating. Toshiro meanwhile is too shocked that she had the courage to do rant in the first place that he can barely respond. Not only that, but he knows she's at least partly correct. He calms down a little and admits, "You may have a point." She also calms down at this, but he continues, "But I still can't overlook your insubordination."

She's about to rant again, but he stops her, "Don't. I know what you're about to say. I've heard it many times before."

The two stand in a silent stalemate for long enough for Rangiku and the others to haul the wheelbarrow in stealthily.

Finally, Toshiro notices the emblem on her arm and points it out, "And what's that? A mockup lieutenant badge? Do—"

He can't even finish his sentence before she interrupts, "Oh, don't you even. I got this as a gift from the people of the Rukongai, said and done. Insult it and you insult them; insult them and you insult me. Got it?"

Toshiro has lost the motivation and stamina to argue any further, "Fine. I get it. Now that I think about it, I guess your outcome is...acceptable for the risk. You can keep doing your 'thing' as long as it stays well away from me, got it?"

Yumiko relaxes a little, "Yeah. That was a pretty quick turnabout."

"I decided to have mercy." he explains.

She sees right through him, "You just don't want to argue anymore."

"That too. Now get inside before I'm forced to punish you."

She shrugs and heads inside to meet with the others for their well-deserved little feast. Meanwhile, Toshiro heads back to his quarters while mumbling about how much of a handful she is.

* * *

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	8. Act 0 CH5 Omake 2: Open Heart

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 5 OMAKE:**

 **OPEN HEART**

It's a fairly hot summer day in the Rukongai for being just on the cusp of the season. On days like this, people still don't find themselves relaxing but rather just trying to survive the scorching heat. No beaches to lie on, and only the wealthy can afford pools. The only thing the poor have to quench themselves with is shallow creeks and less-than-cleanly ponds, so what's left? Some people just like the heat. They like to relish in it by cooking in the open air over a fire or grill. Somehow, that type of tradition made its way into a feudal afterlife. Not like anyone is complaining; grilled poultry is usually good. Then again, most Rukon souls don't have to eat and simply do it for its own sake — wallowing in the nostalgia of life if they can even remember it. Sometimes all it takes to make the day of the dead is to let them taste a food they loved in life. Things like that can look magical to anyone who can't possibly experience it.

But maybe, just maybe even the people who can't remember can have their memories jogged with that same food. But that's a pretty farfetched idea, right? How on earth could they remember through the barrier of death with just that one thing? Crazier things have happened, though.

"Hey, quit spacing out, kid." says a beefy looking man from behind the counter of a food stand.

Yumiko snaps out of the spaced-out daze she had been in for the past 10 minutes out of boredom to pay attention to a few people lined up. She falls victim to pondering again, _"I wonder if that's why I chose to do this today. Maybe I just missed these little things..."_ She looks ahead at a woman and child standing before her as she grills a pheasant breast for them. _"They look so intrigued, innocent, like watching this pointless flipping and nudging is somehow exciting. The anticipation? Guess I really did lose touch somewhere down the line if I can't even remember what that feels like."_

A few silent minutes pass, and so do several faceless people that still manage to thank her without mouths and pay without the minds to know how their own money is supposed to work or what it represents. She backs away from the little stand when nobody else could come forth and presses her hand against the wood of the side while wondering into darker thoughts. Yet, they disappear in moments as though they had never existed once somebody walks by closely enough for her to see their face.

Just one nobody: an old geezer whose skin has wrinkled and body withered beyond its usefulness, whose hair is not just greyed but gone. Some details don't matter even if she could have memorized them without much effort, like the short and oddly angled nose, practical nonexistence of eyelashes or brows. A peculiar few details, but the ones that mattered were his fuller-than-usual cheeks with horribly visible dimples, a single snaggletooth, a relaxed and almost aloof slant of the eyes which barely open to even see ahead. His posture is not terrible, but quite upright. Arms and legs are not skin and bones but more well-worn than anything.

She could tell quickly that he was happy. Not just that, but that he was fulfilled, like despite a casual life lived he would still be content if he just dropped dead in the street that very moment. It makes her think back to her folks in the 32nd District, the ones who died and those who saw her grow. The ones that gave her gifts and saw her out, and those who just ignored her. The hateful and the loving, everybody. No matter who, they all had that look of content about them. Even the most scornful and sinful of men and women alike were somehow pleased with their situation no matter how objectively terrible it is. Is it ignorance? Is that their bliss, or is it something more?

"How envious." she whispers to herself "I don't understand a damn thing."

She slowly takes off the cap and apron the beefy man had given her for the job and tells him that she needs to leave. Nowhere in particular, just to leave. Past the gates to the Seireitei, waving off the gatekeeper, and wandering through the endless and desolate maze of the massive capital city's streets. No particular direction or destination, just wandering for its own sake; irrationally.

"I guess I am." she speaks to herself before giving up on the thought "But who can change that?" and sighing with disappointment.

Eventually, she reaches a dead end. Just a white wall between two other white walls in a white corridor with a white floor in the open air, all bleached by the light of the sky until it blinds. She squints and approaches the dead end, sitting in what little sliver of shade the roofing provides. It's not even enough to stand in, much less sit. Where the light touches burns too much to remain in for more than a few moments by now. So she stands, legs aching from walking so much and body heavy with not just sweat from the weather but from the burden of having it in the first place.

Then, not even a minute later, the Denreishinki starts to vibrate. She takes it out and answers despite the caller ID being unknown. It's silent...a little too silent. She can hear light, almost anxious breathing on the other end.

"Yes?" she asks, hoping to get the name of the other person.

"Y-Yumiko?" asks the other end, obviously a young woman with an odd, mechanically butchered voice.

"Who is this?" Yumiko's voice is still a bit monotone at the moment.

"It's me, Kokoro!" the girl on the other end nearly yells from her excitement.

Yumiko is speechless. She continues to hold the phone up to her ear, but can only breathlessly stand there to contemplate how to react.

"Um...Yumiko? Are you there?" she starts to prod after several long seconds pass.

Still, she can't respond at all. The only thing she can muster is a defeated, airy stutter that can only barely be interpreted as a response.

"Aren't you going to talk?" Kokoro asks, starting to sound worried.

Yumiko pulls the denreishinki away, far enough to not have to hear the full breadth of Kokoro's voice albeit distorted by the phone, but close enough that she can still confirm that her friend is on the line. She just sits there for a minute, listening and staring blankly at the screen; shaking visibly. Finally, after only that, she brings it back up and tries to mutter something; anything.

"Hello?"

Nothing comes out. Again, she's stuck just after hearing a single word.

Then, concern, "Is something wrong?"

It's softer this time, like the voice she neglected to hear for years. For the dead, a year should feel like nothing. But not now, not like this.

That's it. She mutters something inaudible before quickly hanging up and shutting the device closed, then sliding it across the ground too far to reach on a whim. She starts to shake more, then quiver. She curls up on the ground, tucking into the corner of the walls, wrapping herself up in fetal position.

"Now? Why now?" she asks her friend, as if she could listen but not hear and magically give an answer. She shakes harder.

Unable to hold back any longer, she starts to choke on herself and tighten up. Each unheard word is broken by another, less comprehensible word that makes up a series which can barely be understood as, "Dammit, why can't I just talk to her?"

The phone starts to ring again, the same unknown caller. Yumiko darts her gaze over to it and grits her teeth, face reddening as she almost screams, "SHUT UP!"

It continues to ring.

She suddenly feels hot, and brings a hand up to feel her face, wincing in disgust at its dampening. "I can't even..." she starts to whisper to herself, thoughts finishing it _"...deal with myself."_

She bears a cloak of inadequacy, cowering in what little space she has to flee into. Yet, it is she who beckons it forth; stalked by the stronger tension and obsessive dramatic ambivalence that comes from existing in the fragile state between a failed stoicism and self-loathing.

It finally breaks. She pounds the wall and scolds, " **Worthless.** "

Even that won't work. She simply falls back upon trying to stand again and sits there, defiantly angry at weakness but unable to act against it.

The phone rings again.

She commands it, " **Shut the hell up!** " But it continues. She ignores the device and drags herself onto her feet by sheer force of will, no matter how cheap it may be. She leans against the wall and starts to throw her eyes around aimlessly, trying to find something distracting. Nothing but white and blue, nothing but the purity of the world around her. Nothing but her own thoughts to come to her aid and nobody around to speak out. Comfortable with the silence but uncomfortable with the loneliness.

The phone falls silent. She closes her eyes and feels the breeze against her face without a thought interrupting. Just like that, standing still and emptying all thoughts. Then they come back. _"She'll keep calling. Keep trying. That's what she's like. If I say it died, she'll be there on the button tomorrow. If I say I lost it, she'll wait until next week. What can I say that will make her stop until I'm ready? If I don't ever answer, will she think it was the wrong number? Will she hate me when I come back?"_

Just in time, it rings again. She doesn't yell at it pointlessly. She just slides down the wall again and sighs deeply. She waits for the ringing to stop so she can continue to think. She waits more, should be just a few more seconds.

 _"Maybe. She did come to me, so it can't be that bad. What if I say I forgot? No, that would be a lie. Not ready? No, it'll worry her more."_

She can tell it's about to stop and is unsure if there'll be another call today. Soon. One day. At all. _"Never?"_ She freezes _"Every day...could be our last. I remember hearing that a lot."_

Sentimentality gets the better of her. Before it can finish, she runs over to pick up the phone with a sudden burst of hope! She opens it and presses "answer".

Nothing happens. It stopped just then. It feels like she swallowed a rock, just missed her chance. Something that happens once in a blue moon that you just miss by a minute. She stares down at the screen that says "3 missed calls". She just stands there and waits.

One minute passes. Then another. More. It seems like hours have passed, but she checks: only 15 minutes have. Hesitantly, she finally decides to press in the number that had popped up before her eyes. It rings.

And rings.

" _The person you are trying to call is not available right now..._ "

She sinks again, heavier than last time. She hangs up before the automatic message can finish, out of sheer disdain for it. She tries again.

" _The person you are—_ "She hangs it up again, and immediately retries. _"The p—"_ Again. Redial after redial, each one becoming more hopeless than the last. She finally gives up after the sixth attempt.

 _"Was that all my imagination? What a sick joke, reversing the roles like that. What the hell is wrong with me?"_

She stashes the denreishinki back inside and heads home, to the Squad 10 barracks. The day passes and nothing happens. More bland, menial work; more eventless and arbitrary busy talk. More people who will never know or care, and more of the same stiff bed to toss and turn in every night.

 _"So this is what they're so happy for."_ she thinks to herself, back onto the simple folk of the Rukongai she lived with; recalling how nothing was everything back then. How one could sleep well even if their bed was a pile of straw on a pile of wood on a pile of dirt, just because they knew that everyone around them cared one way or another.

Every day, thinking of the same things, pondering the same philosophy, coming to the same conclusions, hating the same ideas, pitying the same self, wasting away with nothing to cope with but nostalgia.

Before she knows it, Yumiko is lying in bed even while dressed fully without a care in the world. _"Just like when I was young."_ she thinks to herself, smiling at the past and being blissful with that even knowing that the next day, the cycle would just run again.

"This is hell. Isn't it?" she asks. Nobody answers. That's all it takes to end the mood, but she still can't stop smiling. Not out of happiness, but pity: for the state of being. The sky is dark, the room is dark, the mind is dark and in such a place. She sinks into her covers, as the bed is too hard to tolerate without their cushioning.

Slowly falling, lulling to sleep. Knowing that the dreams are her only real escape from the status quo of reality.

Then she hears a silent noise. A familiar feeling, like butterflies in one's stomach. Wretched, but pleasant. She sees the bright blue light of her phone illuminate the room. In a daze, she reaches for it and stumbles, dropping it on the floor and struggling to get off to reach it. She tumbles off clumsily and rolls next to the phone, picking it up from there and holding it to her ear. She only hears dead air, with a slight rustling sound. She waits, and almost says something, but a voice hushes her, " _Shh..._ "

She silences herself, and simply listens. The voice continues, "I couldn't sleep."

Another minute of silence. Yumiko tries to speak, but is interrupted, "Just stay there."

It feels odd. The voice doesn't sound like Kokoro's. It's similar, but off. Not human, but machine.

"I won't get used to this." Yumiko tells her.

"What?" Kokoro questions.

Yumiko explains in a soft, tired voice, "Your voice. It doesn't sound right on here."

"Everyone says that!" Kokoro quietly yells, obliviously chipper.

Yumiko smiles faintly, comforted to guess that nothing has changed for her. She lets her continue, "Hey, I met a few people I think you'll really love. We're trying to get you here, don't worry. We'll meet again, I promise."

"We already met again." Yumiko cheekily responds.

Kokoro giggles, but the atmosphere soon becomes denser when she asks, "Why did you ignore me like that?"

Yumiko starts to curl up on the floor, realizing that she was right. She doesn't have an answer. She can't, nothing would be good enough.

They lie there for another minute before Kokoro continues, "It's okay."

Yumiko lifts her eyes in surprise. She can't speak, but need not.

"Whatever you're going through, I know you can endure it. Right? You're Nishimura-koken after all!"

Yumiko can't help but give a smile and a watery eye or two. "Why couldn't we just stay like that? Back then?" she asks rhetorically.

Kokoro seems saddened, "Don't think like that."

Yumiko's smile fades.

"Sometimes, the future is better. Think about everything we could do and become! That's better than just trying to make everything like the past, right?"

Yumiko starts to feel a bit distant, "But sometimes it's just better than now, right?"

"If you don't try." Kokoro argues. "I know you can make something more than that. More than the past and everything you did. That's why we became shinigami."

Yumiko's smile starts to come back, "I guess so. But right now, it just—"

She gets cut off, "No. I hate that word: 'Now'. It's meaningless, just an excuse to dwell on everything. Don't be so vain. You just have to keep looking forward, not down or back. That's what we've been doing, right?"

Even if Kokoro's words might be flawed, or even her idea itself; Yumiko can't help but feel a bit of comfort in her words. It sounds so naive, but maybe she has a point.

"Thank you." Yumiko whispers. No response, she can only imagine Kokoro's expression: smiling and holding the phone close to her like it's a beloved pet; proud of her accomplishment no matter how little. That word comes to mind: "Naive".

She decides to end the call, "Goodnight, Kokoro."

A lighthearted "Goodnight." is all she hears in response before the tone. She puts the phone back up and crawls into bed. She pulls up the covers and slips under them, curling up and grasping her pillow while quickly slipping from reality.

* * *

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	9. Act 0 CH5 Omake 3: Results Pending

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 5 OMAKE:**

 **RESULTS PENDING**

"You've been on that project for a long time." the monotone voice of Nemu Kurotsuchi tells the figure hunched over his computer in a poorly-lit and damp, almost abandoned laboratory.

The figure responds in his nasally voice, "Aaah, that's what makes it long-term! I'm only just now getting good data, so I hope the captain and yourself will give me more time."

"Captain Kurotsuchi requires your presence, and what you have collected so far." she ignorantly barks at him.

"So a report? That'll be pretty tough given what little I have, but I suppose I can staple some things together." he argues back, casually.

"It is requested now." Nemu insists.

The scientist sighs as he stands from his chair and prepares to follow her to the captain's current location in the primary laboratory where dozens of squad members are frantically fast-walking from place to place to keep up pace with their experiments while the captain looks over them and waits. Soon, he can hear the footsteps of the two and doesn't even need to look before addressing them, "Nemu, back to your station. Gokuro, step closer."

He does, and only then does the captain request, "So where is that report I asked for three weeks ago?" He doesn't sound irritated, but the wording implies as much.

"We–ll, there hasn't been much to report on until recently." Gokuro argues for himself.

Mayuri turns around and gives a menacing stare, "Then you must have no problem telling me right now what you've been able to learn given how recent this must be."

Gokuro deliberates, considering how he can explain it. Eventually he settles on asking, "She recently had a squadmate die on a mission, correct?"

Mayuri is somewhat surprised, "How did you get that info? The recent hollow attack's details haven't even been published for lower-level clearance!"

Gokuro counters, "Clearance or not, I know that it happened, and it coincides with my work."

Mayuri is more than a little annoyed, but allows him to continue.

"Well, I spotted a little something that was very interesting. At the exact time that the person supposedly died, the collar on her neck reported a sudden rise in Reiatsu. One that hasn't diminished since it occurred."

Mayuri suddenly seems interested, "And what is the significance of this?"

Gokuro smiles, "I hadn't considered it before, but it seems that every time she also slays a hollow, a similar but much smaller boost occurs. I thought it was just a coincidence and her growing stronger, but this event made me compare it to a control group. The spikes in power she gets when anything dies in her presence appear to be artificial, not natural."

Mayuri turns, eyes widened and gritting his teeth, "You're saying..."

Gokuro finishes for him, "They're almost 90-degree rises. Yes, it seems that she might be _absorbing the reiatsu of the dead_."

Mayuri looks away, quietly contemplating his next move. Not long after and suddenly, he excuses Gokuro, "You may leave. Continue this research as long as it develops. I still want that report, however. Now more than last time."

Gokuro sighs and leaves without much of another word.

On the quiet way back to his workstation through the straight and narrow corridors of the immense, scientific, amalgamative building; he decides to kill some time with a call. Pulling out his dev ice, he quick-dials Yumiko who almost immediately picks up. "Bored?" he quickly asks.

"Eh?" she grunts inquisitively.

"You picked up pretty quickly. Something tells me you were waiting for someone to call. A friend, maybe?" Gokuro elaborates on his thought process.

Yumiko reserves her privacy, "You could say that. What'd you call for?"

"Oh, much the same. I needed to kill some time!" He tells a half-truth, turning quickly into a door headed outside while offering idle banter.

As soon as he's far enough away from the labs to not be overheard, he switches tone and whispers, "Oh, have you ever heard of someone they call the Spirit Minister?"

Yumiko falls silent on the other end. A few moments later, she answers quietly, "Yeah. Isn't that an urban legend, though?"

"Tell me what you know. Try to be quiet." he asks in a lower tone.

Yumiko also lowers her voice to a near whisper in monotone, "I heard she's the one that invented the Zanpakuto, but got kicked out of the Gotei 13 for some reason and just disappeared."

"That's it?" Gokuro sighs.

"Yeah."

Gokuro corrects her, "Actually, someone else invented them. One of the Zero Division. You've probably never heard of them. No, the Spirit Minister came _before_ the Zanpakuto. Once upon a time, she was one of the only people in the Soul Society who could unleash the power of others and let them create their Zanpakuto."

"It was a woman?" Yumiko interrupts.

Gokuro continues without answering, "But then someone came along and invented the Asauchi which allowed souls to train as Shinigami without needing the maiden. Well, she disappeared shortly after. Left and never returned." He suddenly changes topic, "Weren't you a hunter?"

Yumiko confirms, "For a while."

"And did you ever hear bells chiming when you were wandering the forest?"

Yumiko falls silent for a second, "...You mean..?"

"They say that her bell of punishment and salvation still haunts the deep countryside of the Rukongai."

They both become silent, and the air falls dead. The door he came from becomes ajar, squeaking just barely audibly. Gokuro suddenly perks back up, "Ah, I'll look into it for you, then. Do think about it!"

Yumiko is shocked by his sudden shift, but guesses it must be for a good reason and plays along, "O-Oh, sure! Is there anything else you needed to say?"

Gokuro places a finger on his "chin", "Right, I almost forgot! I've been analyzing the data from that collar, and I can finally say it's yielding some results. I may have something ready for you in a week or two, so stop on by when you can."

Yumiko grunts affirmatively and bids him farewell.

"Yes..." Gokuro drones as he hangs up. He closes the phone and cocks his head back to glare at the door being held almost shut. Whomever was peeking from behind darts away too quickly to get a good look at. He grumbles and returns to his station for continued work.

* * *

About a month later, Yumiko finally decides it's time to drop in and pay a visit to see what the fish-man has in store for her. However, even looking upon the towers of the division's laboratories could give one vertigo, and from above the small city is too large to navigate properly for one person; like a massive, winding castle. If not for Gokuro's assistance, she would have lost her way in the first few minutes of wandering into the building. Not to mention the constant glares and bureaucratic harassment of the more dutiful scientists, the experience was unpleasant to say the least.

Then inside, the utterly alien luster of the walls and floors puts even the stark white of the Seireitei's streets to shame. It radiates purity, but at the same contradicts it by the nature of their purpose. She wanders about for what feels like hours with him, just dozing off like an airhead in the same way as Kokoro. By the time they get there, she hasn't paid enough attention to the surroundings to backtrack properly. Regardless, Gokuro skips right to the good part.

"So, you finally decided to show up, huh?"

"Yeah..." Yumiko shakes her head and confirms.

Gokuro raises an eyebrow, but proceeds to take out his new invention: some sort of mechanical bracelet.

"...so what does it do?" she questions bluntly.

"Good question!" He picks it up and opens its lock "All you have to do is strap it on your hand. It's basically an amplifier and backup supply for your Reiatsu. It basically allows you to fine-tune how much is released from your body. You can't completely suppress it like trained shinigami, but the dial on it should suffice for most situations. Additionally, it can contain a small amount of it as backup in case you need some extra oomph or revitalization."

"...Oomph?" Yumiko questions his choice of wording.

Gokuro just stares at her, insistently quiet about the matter.

"Anyways, thanks. Anything else I need to know?" Yumiko asks.

"Oh, not much else. Just don't let it suppress your Reiatsu for too long or you'll be in _grave danger._ " he forewarns.

"O-Oh. Okay." Yumiko stutters, suddenly a bit hesitant. She takes it and puts it on regardless, getting used to the feeling. Specifically, on the left arm. It's surprisingly comfortable by virtue of the cushioning on the inside, and doesn't really get in the way by being thick like the collar sometimes does. She nods to him and prepares to head out if that's all.

But she stops right at the door and stalls long enough for Gokuro to realize, "You don't remember the way out, do you?"

Yumiko nods. He accompanies her out of the facility in a lengthy walk again. On the way out, he warns her to only wear the bracelet while awake and to only use the amplification in dire situations. Absently, she nods to him and wanders on back to her room while the scientist is left to monitor.

And _be_ monitored.

* * *

 _ **So what does this mysterious information do for us? Raises a lot of questions, that's for sure. Who was Gokuro talking about? Will they make an appearance in this story? Does it have any real plot significance anyways? How will the bracelet come in handy in the future? What could the results actually mean for Yumiko's power? Is there a reason for any of this?**_

 _ **So many questions, but we have plenty of time to answer them! Next on Nikushimi no Ya: The Understanding; 6th and final chapter of the prologue! Yumiko finally meets her Zanpakuto's spirit, but will she survive the encounter?**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	10. Act 0 CH6: The Understanding

**PROLOGUE:**

 **PERCEPTION**

 **CHAPTER 6:**

 **THE UNDERSTANDING**

"...and that's why we're sitting here right now." Captain Shunsui Kyoraku finishes explaining to his newest student while sitting in a relatively spacious but dark and plain room that houses nobody but them.

Yumiko can't help but be a bit bothered by his speech, "Do you always call strangers by their first names?"

He shrugs, "Just thought I would be nice."

She still looks suspiciously at him, "Is that so? And how am I supposed to know that you didn't just lead me into here for some perverse reason?"

He sighs, "I keep telling people that I'm not that kind of person. Honestly, don't believe such rumors."

Yumiko grins invisibly, "So your reputation surpasses you?"

He also grins "Oh, now you're the one doing it."

"What makes you think that?" Yumiko's eyes narrow.

"Fish." He simply argues. Yumiko stays quiet, but he doesn't explain.

"With a jaded stare?" she guesses.

"Like Sushi." he corrects her.

"That's not exactly relaxing or enticing." she disagrees.

"Then you must be a beef person."

"Who said I was like that?"

"Your name says it all." he obviously smiles.

At first she's puzzled, then she realizes, "So you like tender beef?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"What would you say?"

"That I hope I won't have to deal with you forever."

"Well, I'll certainly be around for a long time."

"We'll see about that." he suddenly looks gloom.

"Are you serious?" she jokes.

"Don't break the rules." he warns her.

At first she fails to get the joke. Suddenly, it clicks, and she slaps her forehead while chuckling, which quickly evolves into a solid laugh, which further turns into hysterics to the point that she nearly curls over in submission to the hilarity of the realization. Soon, her laugh turns from usual into a unique, aptly deep and masculine one filled with Us and Ws of all sorts in a sort of chortle.

Eventually, she calms down and looks back at him, who grins as if he just won, "I guess you're right. Saw right through my game, did you?"

"Wasn't a very well-hidden game." he admits.

"I see." she says fondly, closing her eyes and relaxing a bit.

"Say, do you know why we're talking in here?" he questions her.

Yumiko goes from smiling to neutral in half a second, "No?"

"It's where you'll be training. I'll have people bring in food, so there's no reason to come out too often. Just wanted you to get used to it and not feel alienated."

She grins again, "That was your plan all along? Nicely done."

He nods, "Just try to get some results. We can't have officers running around that don't even know their sword's name."

She gives a thumb up, and so does Shunsui. He leaves without much of another word while she takes out her denreishinki and sets it to silent. He closes the door and lets the room fall dark. Without much in the way of sight, she grabs her sword and lays it in her lap like she had learned in the academy. She closes her eyes and silently starts to remove unimportant thoughts from her head.

* * *

But it doesn't seem to be working. No matter how hard she tries, the thoughts keep invading and penetrating her conscious, everything from the everyday existential nightmare of the role she has found herself in for the past several years to her self-questioning relationships that keep appearing and disappearing faster than they can mature. The more she tries to stop, the more they invade; and the more she tries to outsmart it, the smarter the memories become. Minutes and even hours pass before they begin to corrupt and amalgamate into the same form; it becomes harder to even visualize the past in total darkness, with figures of memory becoming warped in image and frustratingly inhuman despite her best efforts to keep them in a sane proportion.

More time passes, and she eventually loses track of the concept at which point her eyes uncontrollably shed tears that appear black on her pale face, like the color had been sucked from everything. Her lower uniform starts to feel wet. She hunches over and complains to herself, "Goddammit, this is pathetic!" When she notices the wetness, she scowls, "Did I just...?" before reailizing something a bit more sinister. She hadn't wet herself, but was instead sitting cross-legged in some sort of pitch-black, shallow ocean of water. She reaches forward just to make sure, and her hand comes into contact with it: the blackened and polluted water that stains nothing, but leaves her hand without a trace like mercury. The water is dense, heavy, almost all-encompassing with its utter dread. She rises up from the black sludge, the wet feeling disappearing as suddenly as it came. She slowly turns her head up, and stares forward into the abyss that surrounds her.

There is nothing. She holds out her hand, realizing her skin has become chalk-white. Not just from the contrast but also an unknown sense of dread, she can barely see the two colors clashing so heavily. Eventually, the surveying grows tiresome and she yells, "Hey! I know this is my realm, so why don't you show your face and talk to mine for once?"

No response. She continues to yell, "Or are you going to be a little shit and ignore me?"

Still no response. Her words don't even echo. She scoffs and turns around, only to be floored by her surprise at the sudden appearance of a massive wall of phasing, dim, abstract shapes that one usually sees when they close their eyes. They begin forming into more abstract amoebas of transparent flashing and blending colors, finally coming to shape the form of a small, floating child. Its hair flows behind it, and the body retains its strobing colorations that slowly blend into the darkness and form into countless tendrils the width of mere hairs.

 **"THIS IS NOT YOUR REALM."** The combined voices of thousands drones to her from the gaping maw on the form that opens in an instant. The threads of color consume and grab her body, constricting it and slamming her against the hard surface of what they stand on. She tries to break free and grab onto it, but the mass is far too powerful and easily sends her crashing through the floor with the crackling sound of shattering glass matched by the bending and scraping of metal being torn and warped. Her entire body and vision is consumed by the sea of black, the weight of it nearly crushing her entire body at once, but then she erupts from it underneath and finds herself in another completely black abyss being grasped by two enormous hands.

They finally let go without giving her enough time to come to grips with the environment, and she falls...up? Back onto the same surface in the same spot, but solid again. It seems different somehow, like the atmosphere became heavier. She rises straight up in moments and backs up instinctually, noticing as the ocean of black becomes wrought with the colors that made up that creature. It begins to rise up once more from the ocean and impose its stature on her.

Now, with less aggression, it admits, **"You survived that? Perhaps you would be suitable after all..."**

Yumiko whips right around and reaches for where her bow would be, but realizes that she's completely unarmed in the process. She immediately backs down and stands straight up with her arms crossed. The form of colors chuckles at her, **"Are you honestly surprised? Why would I let you bring weapons here? You are not the one in control, let me make that perfectly clear."** Its voice is still combined with the masses, taking on an androgynous and calmer but still intimidating harmony.

"Get to the point. Why are you letting me stay if I have no power?" Yumiko blurts at it, aggressive and direct in her own way.

The form becomes aggravated, **"I allow you here to test you. It's been a very long time since I've had the pleasure of being utilized by a powerful entity such as yourself."**

"So I'm valuable to you? Good to know." Yumiko comments, then threatens "Now that we've established that we don't like each other, I suggest you tell me why I shouldn't bury you in the ground and leave it at that."

Suddenly, an overwhelming pain erupts from her body, forcing her down to her knees and hunched over. Her vision becomes blurrier, and her chest starts to ache and become hot. The form threatens her right back, **"You forget your place easily. You are not irreplaceable or unique, you are not the only one who can use me, and I could kill you in moments if you even think about getting rid of me."**

"H-How the hell!?" Yumiko tries to yell, but gets beaten down by the pressure.

 **"As I said, I could kill you right now. They would take me from your body, and I would find a new owner who can properly learn their role in this world."**

"I'm not about to be your puppet!" she defies, despite the immense power wavering over her.

The form of colors grips her body with its abstract appendages and squeezes the air out of her, causing her eyes to go wide and pupils to shrink; teeth to grit and fists to clench. **"I'm afraid that was already decided when you chose to partake in my power."**

As it's beginning to monologue again, Yumiko nearly struggles free by sheer virtue of willpower alone, with the mass of colors distorting and bending around her until she falls to the ground and slowly stands. The twisted object tilts its barely visible head at her and comments, **"My, my; such a strong mind. So rebellious and immature, the exact kind that I like."** Yumiko withholds a smirk, as its next line is not as flattering, **"And yet, you bud like a corpse flower. Why, I doubt you'd get anywhere if I don't help you. I'd certainly enjoy seeing that potential..."** It releases its coming grip on her and the oppressive atmospheric pressure.

" **I will test you. If you can finish this with your sanity intact, I will** _ **allow you**_ **to** _ **borrow**_ **a portion of myself..."**

"And if I don't?" Yumiko must ask.

 **"That will be it. It's very simple, you see; how would one know if their food would cook if they don't feel the heat of the fire?"** It gives further reasoning as enticement.

Yumiko grimaces, radiating annoyance, "So either I burn or cook. And do I have a choice in the matter?"

 **"Oh, I will allow you to decline. But rest assured that such a choice will not go unpunished."**

It offers no real indication of what said punishment might be, exacerbated by its lack of a face or even a proper tone to gauge the intent. Not wanting to see the results of declining, Yumiko accepts, "Fine. I'll take your test, and I'll pass it too."

 **"How expected. You humans are really all the same..."** Without a moment of hesitation, thousands of tendrils sprout from the form and invade Yumiko's space, gripping at her with all of their might and forcing her down into the black water below, slamming against the hard surface. Yumiko grunts, but endures the pain with the acknowledgement that it isn't real. Moments later, she's suddenly forced and completely submerged underwater in a quickly blackening abyss that not only deprives her of vision, but also hearing. The only thing she can feel around her is the still weight of the water, and the only thing that can be sensed is the sheer volume of the void. Everything is completely silent and within moments, not even the faint colors of the form are accompanying her. She cannot move and cannot speak, for every attempt to open her mouth floods it with a sickening, depressive taste. Soon, she can't even feel her own movements and is only occupied by her own thoughts.

* * *

 _"One, two, three, four..."_ she begins counting in her head the seconds that pass, not really knowing if they're even correct. Her sense of time is completely destroyed by the lack of any environment, and the flow of it altogether becomes mentally distorted.

 _"255, 256, 257..."_ she continues to count for some time, before realizing how fruitless it is. _"...I wonder what this game is. Maybe it expects me to find a way out. But I can't even tell if I'm moving right now... Maybe I should just endure it. But, how long has it been? A few minutes? This is boring. I was expecting something a little more intense."_

A "few" more minutes pass. _"700...I don't think this is helping any... My lips are going to be really dry when I wake up. Probably should have asked for something to help that. Wonder how long it's been since I even entered. Couldn't have been more than a day. Remember hearing that time is slower in these realms. I think it was that crazy woman that told me about that. Have to take what she says lightly."_

A few minutes of silence pass, _"Was I happy back then? It was better than now, but anything is better than that, I suppose. Still, can't help but feel like I wasted it doing nothing. Kokoro was there, but that was it. Maybe I should have tried to make more friends. Ah, who am I kidding? Nobody really likes me. Don't know why they would enjoy being around someone with nothing to do or say. What did she even see in me? I know I was a hero back then, but surely one person who just decided that they hate hollows isn't that important. Just a skilled peasant with a sword. That's all these shinigami are, just glorified civilians. But...no, that's right. Even me, even Kokoro, even the Masamunes, and even the captains. Especially them."_

She suddenly shifts in mood, _"Never realized it, but I kind of miss them. All three, especially her. She isn't particularly noteworthy, so I guess that's a bad thing. How the hell did that even happen? A good impression and persistence? ...I don't really know that much about her, do I?_

 _Didn't do anything for all of those years."_

It shifts again, _"She seemed off. Like something was always wrong, but what? Nobody is happy all of the time. She was...yes, she cried a few times. I thought she was just overreacting, but... Now that I think about it, I never saw her with anyone else. Always alone or deliberately avoiding others. But she would always run up to me like a little child, beaming. Like I was her mother or sister, or something like that. How sappy."_

If her face could emote, she would be furling her brows in disgust by now, _"Haven't seen her at all. Talked, but never saw. Since then...it's like we never met. I'm such a failure. I can kill a monster and save a town of people, but can't keep even a single person from feeling lonely. I wonder how the lives of those children I saved really were. Like mine? Did they have a mother and father to run home to, or friends to play with? Or did they return to an empty shack in the country with a single thing they cherished that was destroyed because I couldn't stop real damage from being done? I've lost homes, had to move several times but it never meant anything. Desensitization, that's what it's called. They must have felt like I did, like they had to congratulate the hero even if they still suffered in the end. I wonder how many wished they had been killed after they lost everything."_

Despite her sense of pain being eroded, she still manages to get a headache, _"Maybe it's best that I just vanished, they don't even need me. Is that what the shinigami think? Is that why I never saw one doing his job and protecting the Rukongai? What a nightmare; I'm already one of them. Should have never left, then maybe I wouldn't have failed so much. Goddammit, why can't I think these things through? No matter what I do, nothing good comes of it. I wonder..."_

Her body's limbs begin to dissolve in the ambient blackness, _"What would happen if I never existed. If I had just died that day, and never had to endure this. I wouldn't be here alone, suffering or having to know that I caused this to happen. If I died here, it would be so much worse. Jinpachi, Heidi, Kokoro; they all wanted to see me again. I guess that's not going to happen now, because I was too stupid to just think about what could happen. I completely failed everybody. She's going to be heartbroken, and it's all my fault. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."_

Yet not a single tear drops. She stays still, wallowing, _"So this is what it feels like when you're sad but can't feel yourself crying. No release, it doesn't even feel human. I wonder what that's called. Shock? Numbness? Dread, maybe? They don't sound correct. I guess it's not really something you can normally feel. Something like, 'I have no mouth and must scream'. How awful."_

She tries to open her mouth to speak, but the taste floods her mouth, _"Right. It tastes worse than last time, though."_ Yet, despite it, she continues to let it hang open, voluntarily drowning yet never dying in the tar. After some time, she finally tries to close her mouth and sleep to pass the rest of the time. Yet, she cannot do either. Her mouth lies limply open, refusing to even acknowledge its ability to move, and her eyes unable to close or mind unable to rest. She simply lingers for a minute, _"Why? Why can't I just rest? ...Right, it doesn't matter."_

Her body fades further, enveloped in blackness. Over what feels like hours, then days, she lies face-up in the water. Her entire mind shuts down until it can mimic the act of sleeping. And then, in an instant, it comes right back, that accursed consciousness. _"Still here. I guess this is it, then. I was hoping this was all just a bad dream."_ Just then, colors begin to fill her vision, flooding the blackness with spots of undulating, dim splotches that complement the surroundings and reach for her, seeming to swoop her body up...and then choke it before vanishing. _"What a cheap trick."_ she comments in disappointment from realizing it wasn't real, and just the jolt of awakening. So again, she's stuck in this hellish isolation chamber devoid of any reason or substance. She thinks the thoughts she had before as if they were new, repeating them ad nauseum until they no longer make sense.

 _"What's the point now?"_ she wonders _"Am I just supposed to stay here and slowly rot? ...No. No, I won't allow such a thing. But...what to do?"_ She dozes off again, unwilling to actually formulate a plan of any sort. More time passes, but it feels like an instant of nothing just passed again. _"Is this my punishment? For being so naive? That's fitting."_

Hours later, she finally feels herself rising out of the water slowly, grasped by something heavy and wide. The environment is still pitch black, but she can at least suddenly feel and hear herself living again. It takes hearing the form's voice again to make her jump up and snap out of her daze, yelling, " **You fucking sadist!** "

It chuckles, **"Oh, I'm the sadist? For forcing you to meditate on yourself? Not you for creating your own problems? Take responsibility."**

Yumiko scowls, gritting her teeth and slapping the colorful appendages away with a mere swat. The form reacts calmly, **"Oh, but you're looking for a reward for going through that, aren't you? Very well, I will give you the privilege of knowing my name."**

Yumiko stays silent, standing straight and looking at it sternly, yet patiently.

 **"I am Yumi-Maru. Usotsuki no Ningyo, Yumi-Maru. Call my name, and let it change amongst the ripples."**

Yumiko nods, silently inhaling, "Change amongst the ripples, Usotsuki no Ningyo, Yumi-Maru."

 **"Wrong. Say it with confidence! Hold your hand out and SCREAM!"**

Yumiko relishes in the opportunity, raising her hand as if to hold a bow and commanding, " **Change amongst the ripples, Usotsuki no Ningyo, YUMI-MARU!** "

 **"Yes..."** the form groans in pleasure.

Suddenly, a rod of light begins to form in Yumiko's hand while the form of her Zanpakuto spirit vanishes. Moments later, it explodes into a cloud of mist that quickly evaporates, leaving behind a metal composite bow resembling that of a quincy's but more ornate and less geometric. It's painted a piercing red, and presents itself as the only real color besides black and white in this realm. Its cams are shaped like the wheel of a spindle, the limbs like branches that thin into wavy, threatening spikes; the body is filled with holes that makes it look like a more abstract lotus seed pod intertwined with spiderwebs that converge at the limbs to form silvery, hair-like strands for strings and wires.

"Oh, how surprising." Yumiko sarcastically remarks. Almost immediately after daring to joke, she feels her brain almost explode.

Yumi-maru is not amused, **"Fool, do you really think you're safe? If you want to learn how to use this weapon, I suggest you keep a close ear and a closed mouth. Understand?"**

For an indiscernible amount of time, Yumiko is taught the weapon's two primary and most useful abilities. It seems like no time passes compared to what she had endured in that sensory deprivation chamber.

* * *

Suddenly, she finds herself being tugged awake. Her body jolts, flinging the sword lying on her lap halfway across the room. The room is now lit, and Shunsui and a young woman bearing the 4th Division insignia are right next to her. There's a plate of uneaten, now rotting food sitting not too far in front of her.

Shunsui asks in a rather worried-sounding tone, "Hey, are you alright? You have been in there for a long time."

"How long?" Yumiko immediately asks.

"Three weeks." he bluntly replies, then reiterates "You've been in there for Three weeks. What happened?"

"It only felt like a few... It—" Yumiko hesitates, being interrupted by Yumi-maru's voice in her head.

" **Tell him. They won't hurt you."**

Yumiko grumbles, but answers, "It tested me, but I passed and got its name."

Shunsui can tell she's withholding info, and thus puts on a vaguely concerned face, "You look like you've seen a ghost. T—"

"No." Yumiko denies. "Not right now." She tries not to sound hostile, but can't quite help it.

Nonetheless, Shunsui understands and simply asks to see what she got. Yumiko stands without another word and picks up her sword, taking hold of the scabbard as well. She slams the scabbard and the butt of the sword together and commandingly yells, " **Change amongst the ripples, Usotsuki no Ningyo, Yumi-Maru!** " With her new bow materializing in place of the two segments as her right hand that held the sword pulls back like it's drawing the bow. It comes forth in its full glory in mere seconds, giving off a quiet scream while its smoke disappears.

Shunsui is surprised enough to slightly widen his eyes and comment to himself, "A bow...guess I shouldn't be this surprised, but I've never seen that before..."

"Hm?" Yumiko hums.

Shunsui snaps out of his inner thoughts, "Oh, nothing. Go ahead and put it away. I want to set up a demonstration later. How destructive is it?"

"Not too much." she pauses for a moment "Yet."

Shunsui chuckles, "Alright, I'll choose something normal." He then turns to the 4th Division medic and waves his hand, "Kaname, see to it that she eats and drinks a lot; I can barely feel her pressure any more." He leaves shortly after.

Yumiko realizes after that comment that she is indeed feeling lighter and much weaker than before. The nurse of sorts shows Yumiko to her room, instructing her to do nothing but rest until otherwise told by a lieutenant or captain. She leaves and returns later with a 3-course meal that Yumiko absentmindedly but not reluctantly eats. The next several days are spent simply lying in bed and trying to get back her lost strength from starving for so long.

* * *

About half a week of resting later, Yumiko finally gets the word from a courier on when and where to go; ending up on an obviously hastily put-together shooting range. Completely abandoned, it seems. It's simply a large wooden platform that was primarily a patio with round targets at the end of a yard surrounded by palisade walls. Everything past the platform is shined on by the ever-bright sun, bleaching everything until its lightness overpowers its contrast. Yumiko averts her gaze before it blinds her, and faces the perpendicular direction towards the door she came from. With a shrug, she decides to simply lie on the floor and try to take a nap while everything is quiet.

Not even 5 minutes later, a clamoring of people gather towards the door. Assuming it must be the captain and his guests, she for once decides to at least do a cool pose before they enter. Or exit. Go outside. She quickly leaps up to her feet and turns her back to the door, putting her left foot forward and right foot back and to the side in a firing stance, but with a strut to her hips that looks particularly proud. She puts one hand on her sword and the other on its sheathe and looks forward at the targets with eyes not closed, but only ajar.

Shortly thereafter, Shunsui walks forth onto the platform while talking with his guests, "...I'm telling you, it's pretty odd."

Mayuri can be heard responding in a harsh and cynical tone, "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Have a little faith, we both know that he isn't the type to lie." argues a very soft, but unfamiliar voice.

Mayuri scoffs, "Faith is for people who ignorantly accept everything they're told!"

"I would agree, but you shouldn't put it so coldly, Kurotsuchi." another unfamiliar man's voice argues as they begin to gather outside. He too is soft-spoken, but of a much deeper and more potently charismatic demeanor. Soon all four step out and notice Yumiko.

Shunsui seems mildly surprised, "Oh, you're already here." Yumiko doesn't speak, and only barely nods her head, not moving from her stance.

Without hesitation, he begins introducing the attendees, "Alright, well I got a few of them to come. Ukitake agreed, of course." he points to the white-haired, sickly man standing fondly beside him and smiling. "I also got Aizen, even though he said he was busy."

Sosuke Aizen, looking as dashing as always, stands quite close to the front and is only surpassed by Mayuri. He gives Yumiko a warm but analytical stare that she must crack her eyes open and glance over at. She looks slightly aggressive at that moment, but he doesn't waver.

Shunsui continues, "And Mayuri insisted on coming along." Kurotsuchi scoffs again, this time at being implied to be a bother. "Anyways, everyone get a good view."

The four congregate to the side and look onward at an angle, sitting, except for Mayuri who seems averse to sitting on the floor. Shunsui gives Yumiko the okay, "Start us off whenever you're ready."

With a deep breath, Yumiko swiftly pulls her sheathe out of its bondage and unsheathes the sword from it at the same time. She holds the sheath in one hand and slams the handle of her sword down onto it while reciting, "Change amongst the ripples, Usotsuki Ningyo..." She pauses while the two start to merge together and turn white, morphing while her hands run dexterously together. Her right hand begins to pull back a string from white mass while the left holds onto the center. Suddenly, Yumiko yells at it, "...YUMI-MARU!" Suddenly, the merging kicks into overdrive as the pulled strings pulls the limbs of the creation along with it and morph the ends into wheels like that of a spindle. The mass colors itself into a red, metallic compound bow that gleams with a hefty silver sheen, complimented by the thin, glaring string that looks like it could snap at any moment but doesn't. Finally, the weapon takes form at full draw.

Immediately, everybody seems to perk up. Shunsui comments, "See, I told you!"

Yumiko grumbles, causing Shunsui to shut his hole for a minute. She then starts off with, "This is the most basic technique, for gather power. **Yumi-maru, Shushu Reiki.** " The air becomes heavy for a split second, and the bow begins to visibly draw in Reishi from the environment and even Yumiko herself, who winces a bit from it. Still at full draw, she announces, "And this is the basic attack." She focuses intently on the bow, with a huge burst of light emitting from the center and forming a massive spear of what appears to be white fire. As soon as it forms, she releases the string, and it flies forward with unbelievable force and a high-pitched screech, sending the spear flying into one of the targets and striking a crater into it that is peculiarly clean.

Yumiko turns her head and explains, "It looks like fire, right? Well it's actually just raw spiritual energy." She pulls the bow back again and this time, the spear transforms into the shape of a long Ninjata. "It can take any shape I want it to. Even something useless like this..." and it then reforms into a rectangular prism that looks too big to fire. Well, she fires it anyways, and it blows a hole through that same target as if she had just shot it with a .50 caliber rifle.

Next, she lowers her bow and points towards a small boulder lying in the yard. "The next thing is another useful trick. **Yumi-maru, Ishi Nashi.** " Suddenly, the boulder rumbles. A moment later, it shoots up into the air and starts to spin around on random axes. With some difficulty, she manages to get the thing to float towards her and remain mostly still. "This allows me to exert Spiritual Pressure onto an object and use it as a projectile." Promptly, the boulder points its most converse point towards another target and begins to spin rapidly like a drill, sending itself into the target at nearly mach 1 with just the flick of a finger. The rock almost cracks in half from the sheer force, and leaves the target both broken in half and with a huge hole in it, as well as a hole in the wall that they had built. It ended up being embedded in the ground.

There is slow applause all around, as the four are quite shocked to see how scary such a simple ability happens to be. Yumiko tries not to look pleased, so she moves on, "Finally, the last trick it taught me was this. **Yumi-maru, Yueki. Hado #34, Shakkaho.** "

Right after saying that, Ukitake quietly comments, "You're kidding..."

She pulls the bow back full draw again and aims for the third target. The spear appears quickly as last time, but this time around it suddenly becomes wreathed in red and flares up to become extraordinarily violent in its appearance. She can barely see through the thing's flaring up, but manages to at least hit the target off-center. Upon striking it, the spear disperses, then quickly implodes upon itself and becomes a small speck of light that then goes nova and almost completely incinerates the target and the two beside it in an explosion that looks a bit more potent than the normal hado.

Everyone goes wide-eyed. Shunsui bothers with a question in reaction, "So how fast can you fire those things off?"

Yumiko smiles cockily, "Ah, good question. Let's find out." she waits for several seconds until the bow suddenly glows a faint cyan, signalling that it's fully charged. She then lifts it back up and pulls the string back, waiting for the spear to fully form. She releases normally, but immediately pulls the string back; the spear forms again but twice as quickly. She fires and pulls back a third time, the speed doubles again! She continues to pull it back at an increasing rate until the spears materialize instantly, but soon she accidentally fires one off when the bow is uncharged and is hit with a huge, painful wave. She suddenly stops at 7 arrows and becomes nearly frozen. "H...How fast was that?" she barely manages to let out.

"About 6 seconds, I think? Pretty good." Shunsui answers.

"Oh, good." she sighs before the bow suddenly falls out of its transformation and becomes a sword again.

Then she faints backwards.

* * *

Suddenly, she wakes up and finds herself standing in the hallway, seemingly fine but completely unable to grasp what just happened. She then finds herself clutched against the nearby wall and barely able to stand. A faceless girl passes by and asks her, "Hey, Nishimura, are you alright?"

Yumiko looks at her directly but can't discern the person's identity. She nods and they leave solemnly. She tries to stand straight on her own, but can only barely move across the length of the wall. Not only that, but she can't seem to remember where in the barracks she currently is, nor what happened to Shunsui and the other captains. Everything feels slightly heavier. She reaches back to scratch her head, and feels that it's more voluminous than she last remembers. In fact, the ponytail has become longer upon further inspection. A little over the length of her hand; 17 centimeters. It reaches far enough back to annoy her shoulders and back even after just noticing it.

 _"I thought I cut this..."_ she thinks to herself, forcefully dragging her body along the wall meanwhile. Her vision becomes blurrier and blurrier, as if she had been poisoned or gotten drunk too quickly.

Suddenly, a familiar voice comes to her mind, **"So you woke up, did you? You couldn't handle the power, so I had to take over for a little while. What's the matter, can you not even stand properly? I thought it would be a good idea to give you control back..."**

Yumiko scoffs frustratedly, "So you took over my body. For how long?"

Yumi-maru pauses, **"It was merely a few months."**

Yumiko grits her teeth, "Fuck. So that's what happens when I over-exert...did you at least strengthen my body to withstand more than a few seconds of sustained fire?" Her tone is clearly angry and somewhat sarcastic, but the spirit answers anyways.

 **"I must have, or it would have been impossible to even attempt to cover your ridiculous day job."** it mocks.

Yumiko tries not to make an outburst for the sake of not looking crazy. Instead, she complains, "I feel like I'm gonna be sick...did you get me drunk?"

 **"What foolishness."** it mocks again **"This is to be expected, you just came out of your comatose, after all. It will fade, but do try to walk it off. We haven't got infinite time."**

Yumiko groans, fully intending to disobey its directive and head towards her room to lie down at least. Just as she starts to get moving, however, the captain comes bumbling out of a room from behind and asks her drunkenly, "Hey, where are you going? We were just getting started!"

Just then, a vein nearly pops as she realizes that she was probably just lied to. Kindly, however, she responds to him, "I'm not great at holding it, just let me rest for a bit."

Inside of the room he heads back into, she can hear plenty of people there apparently celebrating something. She expects to hear about it sooner or later, so the reason is of little concern. She heads back down the hall and attempts to meekly navigate her way around the barracks, but is unable to locate her room. Within 10 minutes, she's regained some amount of strength and motor function necessary to walk straight.

Soon enough, she happens upon Nanao crossing an intersection of halls and calls out to her, "Oii, Nanao! Help!"

The lieutenant stops in her tracks and takes a deep breath, then sighs, glancing back at Yumiko, "Yes, Nishimura? Please do spare my time."

"I can't remember where my room is." Yumiko bluntly admits.

Nanao slowly inches her hand to her forehead, then rubs it harshly while pushing up her glasses. She takes a while to answer, but eventually agrees, "I suppose I should help you. Follow me." after which they proceed into familiar territory.

The trip is short, but Yumiko lengthens it when they pass by an open hall that gives a clear view of the outside gardens. Yumiko gazes at it and notices that it's snowing. "Winter?" she asks aloud. "It was spring when..." she pauses, and Nanao looks back. "Nanao," Yumiko carefully asks "how long has it been since I transferred?"

Nanao looks perplexed, but doesn't ask why she would ask such a question, "About 18 months." she answers.

Yumiko suddenly looks quite a bit angrier, but just tells her to keep going. Soon, they arrive at the room and Yumiko realizes that it's still practically barren of anything identifiable. When she waltzes in, Nanao asks, "By the way, do you know where the captain is?"

Yumiko points her in the direction that they came from, "Just go back to that place and then down, then left, and it's the last room on the left, I think. They were having some sort of party."

"I suppose that's fitting." Nanao comments. She pauses, leaving Yumiko guessing, but soon answers her coming question, "Nishimura, good job saving those two."

Suddenly, Yumiko isn't so mad anymore. She nods, and allows Nanao to leave. She waits for a minute to be sure everything is clear, then drops like a dead weight onto her plain-looking bed. Almost immediately, she begins conversing with Yumi-maru, "So were you ever going to tell me exactly how long it was?"

 **"I hadn't planned to."** it surprisingly admits.

"It's at least good to hear that you tried to uphold my usual personality. Question is, what did you fuck up?"

 **"What do you mean? I have observed your actions from the time you picked me up. Are you claiming that I'm foolish?"**

"Shut the fuck up." Yumiko scolds "I know you're not in this for my sake, so tell me everything you did or I'll find out."

Yumi-maru laughs, **"Hahaha! Fine, you win. While you were comatose, I took over your body and kept it alive while performing your daily duties. There have been few complications, and I even took the liberty of strengthening it for us."**

Yumiko has the sneaking suspicion that it isn't telling the whole truth, but chooses not to address it entirely. Instead, she sits up and unsheathes Yumi-maru, bringing it up to her ponytail, "And you neglected to do the simple task of cutting my hair." She then slices off the extra half-foot from it and tosses the clump aside.

Yumi-maru turns the complaint back on her, **"And you would rather I messed it up? Excuse me for saving the decision for you."**

Falling for its trap, she feels at least slightly mistaken, but still visibly annoyed. The two fall silent, and Yumiko decides it would be best to simply lie about in bed for the day.

* * *

The rest of her 4-year stay followed with an increased tendency towards antisocial behavior, a much more rigid schedule, and daily practicing with her new zanpakuto. Unbeknownst to her at the beginning, Mayuri Kurotsuchi had been so intrigued by her previous display that he proceeded to attempt to kidnap her on multiple occasions regardless of being rejected both by her, the squadmates, the lieutenant, and the captain. By the last year, he gave up and simply let Gokuro make slower progress.

Eventually, Yumiko decided to test out the bracelet amplifier device that Gokuro had given her. To her surprise, it actually had an extremely noticeable impact on the strength of each individual shot, and allowed her to recover more quickly from the stress. Additionally, the ability to artificially amplify her reiatsu with it allowed her to learn new techniques much more quickly than normal, allowing her to complete her arsenal with its two final shikai techniques.

Though she had plenty of time to do so, Yumiko rarely conversed with Yumi-maru purely for the fact of its apparent malice and the creepy, lonely nature of its realm. Oddly enough, neither her nor Kokoro made a concerted effort to contact each other. Indeed, Yumiko even directly avoided confronting what she felt while suspended in the spirit's realm with the thought that either it would pass or the two could talk it out privately when they meet. This led to many sleepless nights of trying not to think and then doing the exact opposite.

Lack of real personal development aside, Shunsui shortly recognized her strength after she rescued those people in a human world extermination mission to Okinawa. Thus, he decided it would be fitting to start assigning her to more and more until it was one of the only duties on her register. He still attempted — even after she had shown her strength — to make her meditate more by assigning a personal trainer, but she immediately turned down the offer.

And although Yumi-maru made her act more outwardly than she actually is, Yumiko didn't even attempt to remain that way, instead becoming much more reclusive. This ended up perplexing and alienating plenty of her squadmates, but it's not like she even cared about such a thing. In the chaos of the current events, she didn't even consider following through with the usual plan for another vanguard, instead hoping that the current one would be at least good enough for now. Unbeknownst to her, the existing ones were actually quickly becoming a popular group to join for more righteous shinigami to join. The most popular original one in the 11th Division had grown to more than 15 existing members, in fact.

By the end of the four years, she already knows well in advance that they're probably just going to juggle her around more, soon. It's then that she can barely find the motivation to even be on-time with work. None of this makes the lieutenant happy, but Yumiko simply doesn't care: she's already had so many of these lieutenants to deal with that they all meld together in memory. Pretty much everybody does, when she thinks does time, which with long age becomes utterly irrelevant in the grand scale of life despite how quickly it can go awry. But such thoughts are fleeting, and generally unimportant.

So what is important? Well, certainly nothing major at the moment. In fact, she can't quite find any real meaning in the current situation. Just day-in and day-out fighting, reporting, and sleeping with the empty space between activities being spent in boredom. Such is the predicament of someone who can't think to do any meaningful activity on their own. Go to a cool shop? Can't do that, gotta save special things for when you have friends. Need someone to talk to? More like subconsciously forced to wait until you can communicate in some way other than through a phone.

She always hated that thing, the Denreishinki. Not the radar and tracking functions, but the calling one. She always thought it was a bit dehumanizing, like she were speaking to a fake representation of somebody and not their actual selves. It deprives her of the ability to tell intentions from one's movements, or to really have a unique empathy for them when they need it. To take away the things that define a person; but at least then you still have the tone and inflections of their voice. At least it's not texting, which she hates even more for anything other than objectively stating facts unless one narrates it like a novel. Therefore, to call the device dehumanizing is merely apt and not especially indicative of the full scope for which she despises using it.

And then she gets the word. "You'll be transferred to the **13th Division**." The news comes as such a wonderful shocker that Yumiko barely finds herself able to react.

* * *

The day couldn't come soon enough, but she chose not to show her eagerness through any emotion other than haste and insistence. Without a second thought, she expected that Kokoro and the Masamunes would be there to welcome her with all of their own new friends, and that everyone's problems would finally be over. It doesn't bother her to realize that it's just a hope, but the fact lingers that there is some capacity for disappointment. Still, she must wait until the day as there isn't really much packing or preparing to do at all; just the same things as usual. The wait is only a few weeks, but it feels like an eternity when you only anticipate the end, but it makes her happy to finally be able to have the privilege of feeling some amount of adrenaline that doesn't come from nearly dying.

Of course, there comes a point in the timeline of waiting where you suddenly find yourself at the deadline, wondering how all of that time just passed despite feeling like forever at first.

And then she finds herself standing there at the front gate of the division's barracks, still mid-ponder about what will come next. She comes to, surprised, "Hm? Oh, is this it?"

Her escorts, the third seat pair: Sentaro Kotsubaki and Kiyone Kotetsu stand at her flanks and move in to open the gate for her. When breached, it reveals the front of the barracks that appear to be just like all of the others, with the one difference being that it seems to be smaller than usual and has 13 on it instead of some other number.

Yumiko gazes about it for a minute before being snapped into reality by a girl yelling at her from afar. Ahead, she looks and sees Kokoro and some other girl who she hasn't met before waiting for her. Kokoro is waving and cuffing her hand in front of her mouth like a megaphone, still screaming, "Yu~umi~i!"

Yumiko completely drops her bag and everything else she was carrying minus the weaponry slung around her. She actually manages to smile for once; feeling like it's wider than she had ever grinned before. Mouth agape and muscles tensed up considerably, she breaks into a full sprint towards the two! Kokoro smiles back at her and stretches her arms out in anticipation to catch her. Yumiko flashes by, nearly crashing into her but stopping at the last second and grabbing her by the waist. She picks Kokoro up and the two squeeze each other harder than someone trying to get that last bit of toothpaste out of its tube. However, Yumiko is still considerably stronger and manages to almost crush her friend.

"Y-Yumi! I can't...breathe!"Despite saying this, she still holds on tightly and just hopes that Yumiko will loosen up. She does, almost immediately.

"Oh, sorry." she apologizes, letting Kokoro down as well, as she had actually picked her up. The two stare at each-other wide-eyed for a minute, then Yumiko narrows hers fondly. Her eyes almost glimmer and tear up, then she admits quietly, "It's just so good to see you..."

The two stare at each other for a good, long while until the blonde girl next to them starts visibly looking Yumiko over. She puts her fingers up to her lips while doing so, forcing Yumiko to take note of how long and slender the fingers are, and how prominent and intentionally puffy they are. She avoids looking this girl in the eye, but ends up wandering down, noticing that her uniform has been cut up almost to ribbons: no sleeves, the sides of the Shitagi and Kosode slit open and revealing her waist very readily, the front being low-cut and revealing much more of her cleavage than is comfortable (though notably less intense than Rangiku's was), and the front of the Hakama cut open to the knees to reveal her legs more, which are covered in seductively black thigh-highs. She also notices that the woman's hair is reaching all the way down to her hips. Her frame is also a very ideal hourglass shape, and it shows plainly from how much she's currently flaunting it.

 _"Wait...is her Hakama a skirt?"_ Yumiko suddenly thinks, staring at it with perplexity.

"So you're a gawker too?" the woman blurts out with an extraordinarily deep voice for someone of her appearance. Yumiko blushes faintly out of embarrassment, then makes the point by flinging her gaze up to her face. It's very sharp and has many triangular segments to it, but is also rounded and soft enough to not look exactly manly even though it really should.

Then the woman starts to chuckle while commenting and putting some amount of sensual intent on the last part, "You're not too bad yourself. Could use some... _modifications_ to that uniform."

Yumiko gulps, backing off a little and refusing nervously, "That's...that won't be necessary."

The two look each other in the eyes as well, but this time to analyze. The woman's eyes don't help, being such a distinct pale blue that it's hard to witness them without being intimidated or entranced. Unexpectedly, she isn't actually wearing makeup and is legitimately as pale as a ghost.

Just as the two fall silent for too long and the woman begins inching into a smile, Kokoro interrupts, "Um...Yumi, this is Chiziwa! She's been my friend since a little while after I came here. Oh, and we should go inside, too! All the others are waiting for us!" she almost jumps in excitement.

Yumiko snaps out of it and hurriedly agrees, "Oh, y-yeah!"

Kokoro nods and smiles, then tells Chiziwa, "Chii, can you go help Kotsubaki and Kotetsu? Make sure they get to Kaneko's room quickly!"

Chiziwa shakes her head and turns, "Oh? Yes, I can do that." She then turns towards the two third seats making their way towards the entrance with Yumiko's bag. She stands there and waits, silently waving to Yumiko and Kokoro.

They both wave back, no matter how uncomfortable they both are at the moment, and proceed to go and finally start a genuinely enjoyable (after)life.

 **PROLOGUE END**

 **NEXT: ACT 1: NOSTALGIC HATRED**

* * *

 _ **Well, that's finally over.**_ _ **I'll see you next time on the true beginning: Act 1: Nostalgic Hatred, Chapter 1: Sunny Days.**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	11. Act 1 CH1: Sunny Days

_**Forenote: This is the first in the mandatory chapters of this fanfiction. The previous Act 0 was completely optional. I repeat: THIS IS THE INTENDED STARTING POINT.**_

* * *

 **ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 1:**

 **SUNNY DAYS**

"Yumi~! Come on, you're too slow!" playfully yells a shinigami girl to her best friend while running down the distinctly japanese, wooden halls of the barracks of the Seireitei's 13th Division. It, contained within and revolving around the cultures of a veritable patriarchal city of white and gold that gleams with dread for all in the realm of the dead to see and subside by; while the rest of their world suffers as a retro-feudalistic series of towns, farms, and wilderness which it cannot help but accrue from the utter thanklessness and apathy of its self-proclaimed leaders.

She — the blissfully unaware girl — has the height of a growing child, not even 5 feet off the ground yet but still managing to seem full of energy. To match, there isn't a hint of sexuality in her form that's as straight as a pencil. Her face, plush enough to make squeezing it an unbearable desire, and skin pale like a porcelain doll's with black hair to accentuate everything, being tied into flattering twintails down to her back which sway in every direction at the slightest hint of movement. They stay up there, tied up with tiny ribbon bows and never seem to come undone.

Yet even when in full motion and sprinting into the unknown, one can still spy the gleaming and permanent cerulean tears that refuse to leave her irises and give those around her the distinct impression of contradictory listlessness. Yet, her chest may sway to and fro like her hair in a fashion unbefitting of someone like her, but stereotypical of her bubbly nature. Even her closest friends would call it "obscene" and "unfitting" to see a dirty cow's udders plastered there for no reason but to make them jealous. And despite that, it's still unimpressive.

Unlike the thoughtless child she thought she grew from, this girl's uniform shows care put into it: though little, its changes at least add convenience if not character. Everything seems normal at first until one looks closely at the joints, which have holes and slits cut into them, and the sleeves which are cut wide open. Even then, it would be foolish to not then avert one's eyes to the obscurely worn loose socks below that mock the very notion of the normalcy she should be known for. She sees this as enough, but many would argue otherwise as nothing else of the usual Shihakusho has been changed to reflect herself besides the black, puffy, neo-traditional mob cap placed so tightly on her head that it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume it's why she can't think.

* * *

"Oi, Kokoro, wait up!" she calls back her friend, a bit over half a foot taller than Kokoro and boosted another couple inches by the impressively tall 3-toothed Geta she walks on that are so worn that they no longer clack on the floor with that crisp and familiar sound one would attribute to them.

Unlike her friend, this girl's outfit is otherwise fairly minimal in customization with her merely taking long sleeves and adding a hood to the back while foregoing the white shitagi undergarments. She appears to be a thin girl, small bust and wide hips; pear shaped. Slender hands; somewhat tall face with a average-to-large nose; narrow but large, grey eyes with dark red bags beneath; fairly massive eyebrows, small mouth; and light, young complexion. Her hair is very dark, bordering on pitch black; reaches down to her shoulders when tied into a ponytail. She looks to be about 15 from appearance, but age hardly matters to the dead.

The primary oddity to her uniform, however, is the emblem strapped to her right arm: a Bismuth Bronze upside-down pentagon-shaped badge depicting a crane taking flight with a shield strapped to its back and a red spider lily in its mouth with the words, "Rukongai West 32 ~ Nishimura-koken" written in borderline archaic Japanese above it.

On her back and side, she seems to be carrying a katana-shaped Zanpakuto in a light sheath and a quiver of many arrows, then a generic-looking recurve bow hung off her shoulder that bounces around a bit when she runs.

She's been chasing Kokoro down the halls and gawking at her strange style of running for at least a full minute now: she brings her legs almost completely back in a hybrid between leaping and running with long strides while she puffs her chest out after every step so that her unnaturally large breasts don't bounce around so much. It's not terribly effective for anything. Unsure of where this place she's leading her to even is, she calls out, "Kokoro, do you know where you're even going!?"

"We're almost there! Just a couple doors to the left!" she shouts back, attempting to point to one of the inconspicuous sliding doors on the left side of the wall that doesn't look like it should fit, what with the garden of the barracks being in very clear sight directly to the left and accessible with just a few paces across the hall.

Finally, however, Kokoro stops suddenly and pivots to the left, forcing her friend to skid to a halt and nearly stomp a hole in the floor. "Oi, Kokoro, warn me when you're going to do that!"

She scratches her head and giggles, disarming her friend completely to which she whispers, "Ah, dammit..."

Without further adieu, she waltzes up to the door and — instead of knocking — just slams the door open and yells, "She~'s here!"

* * *

The room they run into is fairly small, cramped with a barebones bed in the top right corner that two large shinigami of mixed gender are sitting on, a kotatsu in the middle that looks well-made and is probably fairly expensive but otherwise appears plain, a single dresser tall enough to be a convenient place to put clutter on without worry, and finally a massive setup of electronics and abandoned scrap in the top edge where another girl in a loose-fitting shihakusho sits in her chair in front of a white CRT monitor — not that anyone there would understand the why or what. The only real free space in the room is that surrounding the table and the bed, which is just enough to pace around in.

Almost immediately, the two shinigami on the bed jump up and greet Yumiko, with the large Scandinavian-looking woman starting up first with a haughty, "Nishimura! Long time, no see!"

She poses there in a snow-white shihakusho, Nodachi hoisted against her shoulder and limping behind, with the poise and height just under her partner's to match the lengthy weapon wrought in an oaken sheathe. A similarly white Ushanka covers her head and the difference between the two beside each other. Soon, one's eyes wander to the ethereal mesh of bright colors that lie on her: pale and puffy but silken skin complimented by the similar colors of the outfit and illuminating her long, steel-blonde hair that remains with vibrance and radiance that which only a goddess of sheer domination could show.

All in all, it gives away her foreign origin and brings to mind legends of the savage warriors of northern Europe whose history is synonymous both with "war" and "joy". Matching that, her eyes could be compared to Kokoro's, but with far more focus on the aspects of ice and water, helped by her eyes shaped sharper than the frozen daggers that hang from the trees of Norway. Yet, as the snow that falls onto them and coats their points in a soft frame, her whole body is coated in the same crystalline fuzz down to the faintest hairs.

Ah, it curves; the supple mouth into the nose like a corkscrew that bleeds into her eyes and engulfs the ice in fire, xanthous and jubilant warped squares hanging on the edge of the world. Its dagger weighs faintly upon the unseen forces of GODS dying as if their souls had no meaning and wrought skeletal frames, as it poses with its body disintegrated.

It was a fleeting dream, and all returns to normal just as soon as time had seemed to stop. Nishimura stands, taken aback but unable to remember why. She shakes the hand of her past and now current comrade, quickly turning her attention to the larger man.

Beside his wife stands he, a man of several men who towers at nearly seven feet; above even the most Olympian physical prodigies — and with a musculature to match. Though his bald head and rugged face may intimidate, they belie the softer gaze at nothing in particular that he gives, wandering around the room and acting as if every tiny movement had to be planned out for its consequences in advance. It seems still, but his body moves in tiny but meaningful nudges into whatever mood he may be feeling.

For the less analytical, they may notice more his belying appearance: most prominently a twin-braided black beard that reaches down to his chest. Curiously, the braids are tiny and meticulous as if an artisan craftsman had weaved them. Its magnificence blends with the black and white of his shihakusho which bears little in the way of personality besides its adept concealment. Unlike his energetic partner, he holds his Nodachi point-down into the floor as a sort of stave or walking stick that even then could only qualify as a cane for he, who reaches almost up to the high ceiling.

He doesn't speak with anything more than a pleasant and smooth groan that is nonetheless powerful and deep enough to shake and crack stone while rustling both the spirit of the enemy and the hearts of women. Though, the one thing he says to his old friend is, "Welcome home, Yumiko."

Nishimura can't help but feel a tear shedding as she recalls the minor but many kindnesses he showed to her in her days at the 11th Division, as a sense of nostalgia that quickly gets washed away in her ensuing forgetfulness.

* * *

Meanwhile, the shinigami on the strange electronic device on the top end of the room leans over her shoulder at the three and smiles faintly while they exchange quieted words of their longed and brief memories. Yet, her smile is less that of genuine happiness and more of a similar longing, that of conflicted desires: an immature smirk.

Of course, all sweet things must end, and the jumpy Kokoro pats her best friend on the shoulder, turning her attention to the girl in loose clothing, sitting at the strange devices. Immediately, Yumiko loses her wide grin and takes a good look at the new face to absorb her entirely. She recognizes that expression, and makes a restrained sour expression of worry mixed with false cheer; ambivalence.

"Yumi, Yumi! This is Kaneko!" the chipper Kokoro introduces her "She's really...interesting! Go ahead and say hi." She nudges Yumiko in the direction of the new girl while the two giants re-take their seats. She waves briefly and gives a friendly but forced smile against her more curious judgement.

Of course, the ever-brief and odd Kaneko shifts her clearly fake glasses up her nose and makes a stupid grin that completely shatters any and all amounts of seriousness left in the atmosphere. A quick look over would reveal the majority of her lifestyle:

 **Uniform:** Loose, admittedly comfortable-looking, makes her look kind of slutty. The sleeves and leggings are cut short, lazily so. Otherwise plain. +2 Charisma.

 **Accessories:** The first things you'd notice. Has five hairclips in her bangs for some reason. Would make her look rich if not for how obviously reproduced they are. Better starting relations with ordinary people and the easily impressed. Is she also wearing a cat ears hairband? +1 Cuteness, +2 Luck.

 **Face:** Completely unremarkable besides a sharp look. Narrow eyes, but they're plain old ugly brown so who cares? Her skin is pale, too. +2 relationship with the easily impressed, +1 Intelligence. +1 more INT for the cool lensless glasses.

 **Hair:** Spectacularly dyed an eye-destroying shade of orange-red that wasn't very popular to begin with. -1 Charisma, +3 Niche Appeal.

 **Shoes:** A girl's most precious possession, they say. Currently unequipped and strewn about: Tengu Geta. +2 niche appeal, +2 Balance, +1 Popularity, +5 Weirdness, -1 Cleanliness.

 **Weapon:** A normal katana with a square guard having 5 lines running through it. Pretty blue ribbon. It's in a busted gun holster for some reason, attached to a leather belt at that. +1 Edginess, +2 Weirdness, +1 Fashion. Why is she wearing it while sitting down? +1 Mysteriousness.

Of course, no stat sheet would be complete without a spell list. Of course, she lost hers and never bothered memorizing it or even making a copy. Meanwhile, as Yumiko is staring her over without saying a word, Kaneko snaps at her playfully, "Like what you see?" while displaying her "relaxed" body. This is met by a straight face and a raised eyebrow.

"I've heard that twice today..." Yumiko comments offhandedly, approaching and wondering what the strange, rectangular device sitting on Kaneko's wooden desk is that displays an image of a pubescent girl in a revealing silk garb. "The hell...?" she wonders aloud.

"PC-9801." Kaneko briefly answers.

Yumiko turns to her slowly, quizzically and uncomfortably.

"Oh." Kaneko says in monotone "That's Princess Maker 2. That's my virtual daughter. Pretty cool game." She gives a thumbs up.

Yumiko narrows her eyes on the video game, wondering what manner of sorcery this could be. She asks the stupid question first, "What kido is this?" which earns her a flick on the head and a disappointed but glad grin from Kaneko.

Kaneko returns to clicking around in her game, "It's not kido, you idiot; it's science."

'Twould be soon that Yumiko's attention is pried away from the curious sight of a primitive game and onto the boisterous trio arriving at the door: the two third seats of the 13th Division bickering over who can claim credit for carrying the bags and who chose the right direction, while another voice accompanies as the sole yet futile voice of annoyed reason.

* * *

Yumiko had seen this girl — no, woman — just minutes before but still has to stop and take in her appearance to get the full scale of its meaning. The moment she walks in and nearly rips the door open, it's plainly easy to see her lascivious breasts swing like a pair of pendulums, even for just a second. Though not as absurd as the (in)famous Lieutenant Rangiku's, hers still tear eyes and even make less confident women blush. Meanwhile, the hard-willed Yumiko is simply amazed that her back hasn't been snapped in two yet.

"Ah, Chiziwa!" Kokoro yips as soon as her the girl enters, nearly pouncing her with a quick but not too subtle hug before galloping back a step. Chiziwa and the two third seats step in, with the woman standing next to Kokoro and the two third seats placing Yumiko's meagerly small baggage in the doorway.

They turn to her, simultaneously saying something along the lines of, "Ms. Nishimura, here are your things!" They both approach her and congratulate her on the promotion that came with her hopefully final transfer: 12th Seat Officer. She, though surprised, isn't really impressed by promotions by this point in her tired carreer. She simply nods along as they give her directions to her own room and proceed to leave in a steadily hastening manner.

Suddenly, everyone is left silent. Yumiko glances at her bags, then at Kokoro, and is magnetized towards Chiziwa. The two stare at each other until Chiziwa gives her a wink. Yumiko half-closes her eyes and frowns tiredly. She's about to say something, but Kokoro interrupts.

"Yumi, Chiziwa! I didn't get to introduce you two properly!" She seems excited, but is mostly ignored by both of them. Yet, she continues, "Yumiko, she's been one of my closest friends since I actually came here. I met Kaneko first, but then Chiziwa came and we all got a lot closer. It was just the three of us until Heidi and Jinpachi got here!"

Yumiko is only half-listening, and Chiziwa is too busy analyzing her to pay attention. The air becomes tense as they agonize over the details while Kokoro rambles in the background.

To confirm her earlier thoughts, Yumiko stares at her hands first: long and slender, almost bony but not quite hard-looking enough to appear unattractive. Trailing up her arm, she takes note of how surprisingly meaty and flush it is compared to the rest of her body, though still matching in particular charm to her fingers. They drag on for miles and end only at the cutoff where the sleeves should begin, indicative to Yumiko of a possible Hakuda fighter.

Avoiding her bosom, she then memorizes this woman's face: Like Kaneko, her face looks sharp, but not overtly, and tends to round into a puffy marshmallow-like texture that begs to be groped and licked, and the pouty lips which connect nicely to those cheeks and share a similar nature. They carry the tone of flesh so intimate that any sensible person would cry to censor them from the eyes of all else who would fawn over such a thing, only to keep them for himself. If that alone wouldn't entrance someone, her piercing eyes of pale aqua that blend with the sclera would do so easily; they not only let their irises widen to lessen the uncanny look, but seem to glow faintly and gaze directly into the heart of onlookers.

Unable to bear looking at her face any longer, Yumiko's own gaze lingers down and notices the whole picture: Not only is her chest practically made for seduction, but her entire body curves to and fro as if it were made of water; thin yet plump, revealing and lewd but of a betrayed innocent naivete purely intended to be defiled. A slight fidgeting can be seen as her body gets looked over with unintentional pervertedness. Both of the girls shiver, but for opposite sides of the same reason.

And yet, she looks onwards. The whole uniform of hers has been cut to ribbons, with many slits and even clearly cut-out sides that completely show her waist and just barely prevent her breasts from peeking out of the side. Behind them lies her waist-length hair that clearly calls attention away, stealing interest with its uncommon color of somewhat dirty blonde. It leads Yumiko back up to her head, then down to her eyes again to notice that she, like Kaneko, wears a pair of similar lensless glasses.

Yumiko raises her eyebrow at the discovery, but can't help continuing down and seeing that her uniform's leggings are cut with a triangular hole from the knee down and reveal her socks being replaced by pitch black thigh-highs that accentuate the length, depth, and curviness of her legs and thighs. Yumiko apparently confirms all of her suspicions about this woman with the added bonus of realizing that her hakama is indeed a skirt like she had guessed when the two first saw one another.

By the time she's finished, Chiziwa has already looked her over twice and Kokoro is about done rambling. This girl, despite her appearance, shifts around just as carelessly as Kaneko flaunts her laziness. The two fit each others' aloofness, but there comes a few surprising twitches. Yumiko tries looking her in the eye again and the tables turn: she looks away this time with no more than a straight face to show.

Kokoro is finally done, "Anyways, I'm done. So what should we do now that we're all here?"

For another full minute, the room falls silent. Chiziwa and Kokoro take a seat at the kotatsu in the center of the room while Yumiko just stands stoically near the dresser. Soon, however, to break the silence: Another person barges in! This new-new girl with a tomboyish face and short, ragged hime cut pops in and waves at Yumiko, who waves back.

"Yo." this new person greets everyone "Yuu, how's'e new bullshit goin'?" she points at Yumiko who becomes slightly flustered and nearly panics when the others stare suspiciously at this person.

She rushes towards the girl and pulls her out, introducing, "Right! Guys, Kakunaka. Kakunaka, my old-and-new friends."

The others don't really get into the new greeting that much, given mostly by the fact that Kakunaka's uniform is beaten, torn, cut, and soaked in dried up blood from past battles. She also kind of smells. Despite that all, she's smiling hopelessly innocently and acting comfortable despite having just met these people. Nothing else about her really strikes anyone's fancy. She starts to bounce around a little in anticipation, prancing into the room and taking a quick look around before backing up with a gallop and shifting her feet around like a sprinter who can't be asked to stop right now but kind of needs to use the bathroom. When she finally speaks up a little more, the others are a bit shocked at how it went from clearly female to such a low pitch that it'd be mistaken for a man's, "Well, nice having a quick look around! Yuu, I got your loc', so don't worry nothin' abou't. I'll check y'up later, 'right? Jus' came in t' say hi."

Yumiko can't help but grin at how hard she's trying to play it cool, but doesn't say anything to spare her the embarrassment. Thus, Kakunaka sprints out of the building while turning invisible, leaving everyone confused and concerned.

Kaneko takes the lead in questioning this time, "Who was that?"

Yumiko scratches the back of her head and closes the door as she enters, "Just one of my acquaintances from my 10th Division days. She likes to drop in unannounced."

Kaneko immediately follows up, "And what was up with that accent? She sounds like a gangster."

Yumiko pauses, then looks over at Kaneko finally, "I...don't know. It comes and goes."

Satisfied for now, Kaneko turns around and resumes her game. Yumiko finally just sits the fuck down and rests her head on the kotatsu with Kokoro and Chiziwa, the latter of which is still eying her. They ponder about what to do while the Masamunes rub up against each other in the background. Nobody seems to care very much.

* * *

Eventually, Kokoro speaks up after patting the table lightly, "Oi, oi, Yumi! What happened to you? You said you would visit me and keep in touch! I only got to call you a few times!"

Yumiko jumps at the question, immediately averting her gaze and raising her eyebrows alongside an uneasy expression. She stays mostly silent, and almost appears to flinch before looking at Kokoro. She can't help but lament her sudden predicament, _"Shit, I forgot to make up an answer for her... I can't just tell her that I forgot, that would be cruel and wrong. 'You could say that I lack a spine.', maybe? It's technically correct, but..."_

In the midst of her inner monologue, Kokoro interrupts, "Yumi?" with a pained expression, but she doesn't quite have the heart to get truly angry at all.

Yumiko winces at her, but Kokoro can't read her mood effectively enough to understand. Yumiko thinks to herself more, _"Dammit, Kokoro, can't you see that this is a hard question!? No, no, it's not her fault. She did call me once, and I answered. That was probably a mistake, but..."_

She looks over at Kokoro and stares for a split second, absorbing her look: eyebrows raised flat, between sadness and anger, lips closed tightly and squeezing as she clearly grits her teeth, face blushing as the blood rushes to her head while she probably imagines all of the different answers; none are good. It physically hurts Yumiko to not have an answer. _"Fuck, why do you have to be like this?"_ she curses fate.

The atmosphere becomes uneasy as well, with Chiziwa staring and Kaneko actually caring to glance over her shoulder; even the Masamunes pry away from each other for a moment to worry on the two's behalves.

Maybe it was the calming warmth of the Kotatsu, or the sudden surge of being stared at in a mix of possible different negative emotions, but Yumiko finally thinks of an answer and quietly murmurs it with some hint of honesty though it may pain her to tell a white lie, "I was just too busy. I rarely had to time to sleep and eat, much less talk to people."

Suddenly, her stomach sinks as she thinks, _"Oh god, that sounds worse than it was in my head. Please don't blame yourself, please don't..."_

Kokoro sniffles a tiny bit, but gives a faint smile of relief, "Oh, that's all? I— I'm sorry, I guess it was just a bother, then."

Yumiko becomes more tense, _"Fu_ _〜_ _ck."_

Kokoro looks down at her feet and looks like she's about to cry, "I won't... Please forgive me!"

There's no telling what's going on in her head, but Yumiko acts anyways, bending over the table on her knees and patting the table in front of her, "Wait, wait! It's not your fault, so don't go crying on me! I... I mean, I'm here now, right?"

It seems that Kokoro's optimistic mindset from their academy days caught up with Yumiko, but it works. Kokoro keeps sniffling, but she looks back up and smiles wide, radiating a certain relieved warmth about her. She casually moves her hand over Yumiko's and tries to relax a little despite how obviously upset she still is.

Yumiko remains tense meanwhile, thinking, _"Come on, one of you help me! Chiziwa, Kaneko, come on!"_

As if angels (or ghosts) had whispered it to her, Chiziwa intervenes at last by scooting closer and taking a seat by Kokoro before throwing an arm around her neck and half-hugging. She speaks quietly but with enough energy to not seem soft or pandering, "Hey, it's probably nothing! Just some mundane thing, right? Just be happy that she's here right now. You been waiting for her this long, right? So forget about it!"

Yumiko squints at Chiziwa, but smiles as well and thinks to herself, _"Chiziwa...no. That's not healthy thinking. Stop promoting it."_ Yet, she retracts the thought when Kokoro's smile reappears. She sits down from her tense position and closes her eyes, grinning and relaxing, leaning into the table. Slowly, her mind begins to drift into the warm atmosphere alongside the clacking of Kaneko's keyboard and mouse, the loud and unsteady breathing of Chiziwa and Kokoro, and the tiny giggles of the Masamunes as they constantly tease each other.

* * *

"Yumi〜!" Kokoro yells at her friend sitting across the table. She snaps out of her nostalgic daydream and stares at Kokoro who asks, "What are you thinking about?"

Yumiko takes her time, sitting completely still with a tired but blissful expression. "Just remembering...when we first met here. A couple years ago."

Kokoro pouts, "You're still dreaming, even awake? Pay attention!"

"Huh?" Yumiko seems confused and vaguely tired.

Kokoro nearly yells, "I asked you to show us your new techniques!"

A bit late, Kaneko peeks over her shoulder and tilts her head to an impossible degree while speaking faux-menacingly, "Kokoro, you're one to talk about not paying attention, little Ms. Almost-Getting-Killed-All-The-Time."

Kokoro nearly jumps up to argue, "Hey, it's hard to focus when you can hear everything for almost a kilometer around!"

Kaneko calmly rebuts, "That should make you _more_ attentive. Honestly, how do you fuck up something that good?"

Her provocation works, and Kokoro would nearly fly into a tantrum if not for Heidi Masamune speaking up from the bed, "Don't fight, kids. This is a day for relaxing!"

Kokoro's cheeks sink, and her frown curls further than it already was. She's probably about to get even more tempered, but Chiziwa intervenes, "Guys, stop bullying her. Don't like it when her face gets all scrunched up like that." The order isn't stern, but she manages to contradict herself and upset her even further.

Before the girl starts crying, Yumiko suddenly stands up and unsheathes her sword, slamming the butt against the mouth of the scabbard while yelling, "Usotsuki Ningyo, Yumi-maru!"

She slowly pulls her right hand back as if drawing a bow while the two segments form into a red, mechanical compound bow whose wheels look like that of a spindle and the string shines as dew-covered and paper-thin spider gossamer. As it fully forms, the limbs immediately glow a faint blue.

The others all nearly jump from the sudden act of supposed intimidation. But instead, she simply says, "Oi, Kokoro, let's go out to the range."

Kokoro's mood _immediately_ shifts, with her ugly and scrunched face loosening into a beaming smile. She nods and does a friendly bow before skipping out the door and waiting beside it for Yumiko, who slowly strides along. Chiziwa decides to follow them as well, making similar strides to Yumiko but with more sway and better posture. Kaneko is left with a sly smile, pleased with her bullying.

On the way, as Kokoro is skipping a bit too far ahead, yumiko calls out to her, "Oi, Kokoro!" She turns around on one leg with her hands raised up to her shoulders. "Go and get the plates." Yumiko continues, deadpan.

"But don't—" Kokoro tries to argue.

"They broke last time, remember?" Again, Yumiko is very deadpan and tired-sounding.

Kokoro has think back on it, eventually remember that they tried using targets on the roof last time but they got easily annihilated by "Chunyu 〜 Shakkaho" despite being made of metal. She responds with a spacey "Oh yeah." before she skips off someplace unknown to the others.

Chiziwa intently stares at her hopping off in the adjacent direction while murmuring, "They're gonna hurt later..." Yumiko just gives her a strange look, but ends up nodding in agreement.

Soon, she returns to the spot where the two were supposed to wait for her, but they ended up leaving for the garden without her. Luckily, it was less than a minute's walk away.

* * *

After Yumiko having to instruct Kokoro on how exactly one is supposed to throw a plate (like a frisbee), the three are ready to gawk at explosions, and then promptly get pelted in the face by shattered ceramic. Hopefully the captain won't mind shards of plates littering the roofs and dirt.

By now, Yumiko's bow glows incredibly intensely, drowning out the red of the paint and becoming a purely bright cyan. On her word, Kokoro sends a plate high up into the air with a cute, high-pitched grunt. Yumiko aims up, pulling back the string and allowing a bright blue bolt of fiery reiatsu to manifest in the draw that flares up actively before being almost immediately released. The missile flies directly into the path of the plate and strikes it in the side, just a bit too early. The force from the impact causes both the missile and the entire plate to shatter into hundreds of pieces, being blown far back with the shards of ceramic landing on the roof.

Yumiko stares blankly at the sky while the others clap slowly, but she remains unimpressed with herself. Absorbing the biting cold of the autumn air to her strength, she orders another to be thrown up, and Kokoro grunts once more to send it up even higher than the last! It's quick, but Yumiko had already drawn her second shot and shouts with at least some volume, "Se No Me Mitsumemasu!" The fiery blue arrow suddenly constricts itself and flattens into the shape of a needle in the blink of an eye, and she immediately releases it. The plate, though not shattered is seen in the next moment with a small but very clean hole in it while the afterimage of the lightspeed bolt fades into the sky that matches its color. The blue from the arms of the bow has faded slightly, emitting forwards and dissipating as particles.

The other two nod and clap slowly again, but Kokoro interjects before Yumiko can ask for another, "Yumi! We only have 5 more, stop holding back!" Yumiko seems to wake up some, smiling and nodding to her. She touches the arm of the bow and focuses, brightening the blue aura back up to its optimal strength.

"Alright, another." she commands as she pulls back the string. At the same time as Kokoro flings a plate almost over the roof of the barracks, Yumiko yells, "Yumi-maru, **Fuwatari no Sosen; Se No Me Mitsumemasu!** " The main projectile then suddenly shatters like glass, flinging out and creating dozens of similar arrow projectiles all around her that then constrict as before into dozens of blue needles! Then, once more, they change shape into katana blades just to show off. Each one of them then changes angle and points directly at the plate. When she releases the string, the blue aura practically explodes off of the bow and leaves it bare red. At the same time, the dozens of katana blades instantaneously pelt the plate and fill it with so many holes and slits that it practically disintegrates by itself in midair.

Kokoro and Chiziwa look on in awe at the display, ideas coming to mind of the suddenly apparent different applications of such a powerful attack! Yumiko then explains to a bit, "So that was the new one, with an old one added on. Not much to say, it just does that, but I have to add that the arrows are all homing and that it drains everything the bow has stored up. I wouldn't recommend demanding it a lot. Speaking of which, anyone got a snack?"

Kokoro rushes over to her, dropping the other 4 plates, "Oh, Yumi! Can you, like, infuse them with Chunyu? I wanna see you do it with something cool!" She starts jumping up in anticipation, ignoring the fact that the bow is no longer charged up.

"Like?" Yumiko amuses her.

"Like...! Like...!" she tries to think "...Sokatsui!"

Yumiko falls silent, thinking to herself, _"Now...I've never tried that one. I wonder what it does. Shit, she made me curious!"_

While lost in thought, Chiziwa approaches from behind and lays a hand on her shoulder, winking to her and complimenting, "Hey, that was pretty impressive. Must have lots of stamina."

Yumiko fidgets, "Yeah, I guess." and raises her eyebrow uncomfortably.

Chiziwa continues, "Don't think I could stand as much strain, I mean you were collapsing after a few techniques when we first met and could already run a mile without breaking a sweat."

Yumiko tolerates her dragging the compliment out, nodding along gently. Chiziwa _continues_ , "...Think you could help me try it out? Could do with a little endurance training, maybe you too...!?"

When she glances over at the movement in her peripheral vision, Chiziwa sees Kokoro frowning and furrowing her brows while making an "X" with her hands across her chest. Chiziwa starts to sweat, even moreso when Yumiko responds, "Maybe we can have a race later on, but I'm kind of starved after using that thing. Takes a lot of Reiatsu, y'know?"

Chiziwa tries to save herself, "Well, how about we go out and I'll treat you to dinner!?"

Surely this must work! It can't possible... "Oh, let's bring Kokoro too!"

Chiziwa freezes up and starts stammering at the request, "Uh...Uh..." Cornered. She's completely cornered. Refuse and it'll look bad on her, but agree and no private conversation, plus less attention! It's a lose-lose situation!

Kokoro waves to the side, raised eyebrows and a smile as if to say, "Go on without me." yet she can't bring herself to do it.

"O...Of course. Yeah, I can afford Kokoro too." Chiziwa relents.

Immediately, the girl excuses herself, "No, no, I'm not hungry! You two go ahead without me." she backs up, hands beside her face and open in a "stop" gesture.

Yumiko laughs, "Nonsense! You need to keep your stamina up or you'll never get stronger. Come on, it'll just be us three together!"

While those two are talking, Chiziwa is actually looking through her pockets and phone, only to find that she doesn't have any yen nor enough hollow kills to convert into enough yen for much of anything. She sighs and just lets go of it while turning and breaking the bad news, "Sorry, guys. I just checked and...I don't have enough for even one of us. Sorry."

The other two look at her disappointedly. Well, Yumiko does anyways. "Oh well. I don't have much left either, so that won't do." Kokoro nods along and solemnly concur. After a moment of silence, Yumiko announces to the two that she'll just head back to Kaneko's room.

* * *

To her surprise, the Masamunes have left and the other two didn't follow behind. Without them there, Kaneko's room is left eerily devoid of any real presence, as the lazy mess of a shinigami barely has one while curled up in her living world swivel chair.

Without much to do, Yumiko just stares at the components littering the back of the room where she sits. All kinds of mostly beige and white shapes made of plastic, curled up in plenty of wires that make it hard to tell what goes to what, or even how to most of them out to begin with. Though she knows not of their names or purpose despite sitting next to them for years, she can at least guess that most are redundant and/or obsolete given that they haven't been touched in a while.

She approaches Kaneko, grabbing an adjacent swivel chair that Kokoro usually sits in to watch. She does, this time, not specifically welcomed by Kaneko. Instead, she pauses the game she's currently playing and gives a sideways glance, "Yu." Her voice is deeper than usual.

Yumiko can't tell if she's speaking English or just shortening her name. Either way, the subject is the same. "Hm?" Yumiko responds.

"Bored?" Kaneko questions bluntly.

"Tired." Yumiko answers back similarly.

"Watch. Quiet."

Kaneko turns back to her game and unpauses while Yumiko silently watches. The game's title is spelled out on the screen itself instead of just on the floppy: "Touhou Gensoukyou 〜 Lotus Land Story". An exotic name, and the game looks exotic too; lots of flashy colors flying about on the screen while a tiny person that Kaneko appears to be controlling flies about and avoids them, shooting at another person on the opposite end. Well, mainly opposite. She's so close to the enemy that it's hardly applicable.

"What's with that name?" Yumiko accidentally says aloud.

Kaneko turns her glance while pausing the game and gives a +4 raised eyebrow of annoyance. Yumiko immediately closes her mouth and smiles innocently. Kaneko goes back to playing, and quickly dies just a few seconds afterwards. Letting out a hefty sigh as her character explodes in a violent torrent of sparkles.

"Fuck." she says as her character pops back up on-screen.

"What happened?" Yumiko wonders aloud.

Kaneko's voice becomes more irritated, "Died. Lost a life. One more and I have to restart."

Yumiko nods along, "So you're..."

"Yes." Kaneko immediately anticipates the question.

She dies again shortly after, to the same boss: some red-clad girl with a curvy scythe.

"Fuck." she says again. "GAME OVER" fades onto the screen before it turns black and goes back to the energetically-themed title screen that shows a western-style witch on one side and a shrine maiden on the other.

"So explain this to me again." Yumiko turns her chair to completely face Kaneko.

"It's a game. You dodge the danmaku and kill the enemy. Die too many times and you restart." she briefly explains while starting again with the shrine maiden.

"That's it?" Yumiko raises an eyebrow.

"Yup." Kaneko confirms. "It's called a 'Bullet Hell'."

Yumiko's mind wanders for a moment before she asks, "You think she remembers dying?"

"Probably not." Kaneko is unfazed by the question.

"What about the game over thing?"

"I guess that's like reversing time. Like you just get to keep trying until you succeed."

"That would be nice." Yumiko comments.

Kaneko pauses and turns her head, "What?"

Yumiko realizes how bad that sounded, "I mean, to be able to keep trying until you get it right. To go back and fix your mistakes."

Kaneko returns to her game, "Not really dying, is it?"

"In a way." Yumiko argues.

Kaneko hums, then picks up a bar of chocolate and holds it out, "You look exhausted. Have some."

Yumiko refuses, "Not a huge fan of chocolate. Makes me feel sick. Oh, do you have any Yen?" she tries to mooch.

"I don't lend money." Kaneko immediately retorts.

"Oh. Okay."

The two sit silently, the attempt at a deeper conversation being blown away by Kaneko's unwillingness. That is, until she breaks the silence, "You should probably make sure that the troublemakers aren't making trouble."

Yumiko sighs, still famished, but agrees reluctantly to leave. After the door is shut, Kaneko quietly says to herself, "...That was a lie." while glancing at a financial ledger book just to the left of her monitor with a crooked smile.

* * *

It takes wandering around the barracks aimlessly for a long while, but Yumiko eventually finds Kokoro and the Masamunes hanging around the front gate. She yells toward them as they head out, "Kokoro〜o!"

She yells back, "Yu〜umi〜i!" and waves, gesturing her forward.

Yumiko sprints at incredible hihg speed to reach them, finding out on approach that they were just heading out on an excursion to a candy shop for some reason.

"I thought you didn't have any money." Yumiko comments towards Kokoro

"I don't, but Heidi said she would give me part of her thing if I helped her get it before anyone else!"

Yumiko gives the woman a vaguely pleased look. She thinks to herself, _"Can't say that I approve of shopping like that, but at least she's nice about it..."_

"Yumi, I'll share it with you!" Kokoro enthusiastically offers.

Yumiko waves her off, "No thanks, you can keep it."

"But they won't be available for a long time!" Kokoro insists.

Yumiko makes a difficult expression, "What is it, anyways?"

Kokoro points up into the air with one hand on her hip, posing and announcing, "Candied apples!"

Yumiko grins, eyes softened fondly, "Oh, tempting. But aren't they common?"

Heidi intervenes, "Hey, we finally found something sweet that you actually like!"

Yumiko flatly retorts, "Fruits are sweet, you know. Anyways, I prefer meat."

"Su〜ure." Heidi teases. Yumiko doesn't get it.

"You're too picky, Yumi!" Kokoro chipperly complains.

Yumiko makes a disgruntled face, thinking, _"Jinpachi, say something; these two are just savage! Control your wife's sass!"_

He seems to read her mind, speaking up with a cataclysmically deep voice, "Girls, you know Yumiko is bad with those quips of yours. We're also here."

Quaintly, they finish their short walk and talk to the nearby candy shop that just so happens to feature the captain Ukitake's face in a promotional poster for chocolate rabbits in the front window. Yumiko grimaces in disgust at the rabbit, guessing that it's Chappy.

Suddenly, she recalls what she wanted to ask Kokoro a minute ago, "Oi, Kokoro, where'd Chiziwa go?"

"Back to her room. Something about sulking?" Kokoro answers, a finger on her chin.

Yumiko nods and sighs, then they all head inside the convenience store-sized building. Immediately, they're hit with the smell of cinnamon, pumpkin, and other autumn seasonal flavors that seem to have become popular in the living world. Yumiko grimaces again, still not a fan of either the sight or scent, and almost becoming completely torpid from the combination. Kokoro and the Masamunes, meanwhile, are completely fine with it and waltz right in with vigor.

Heidi decides to take command with an aggressive forward point, "Alright, everyone split up and try to find whatever's left! Grab it when you see it and don't let go!"

Yumiko and two other strangers in the background are forced to gawk at the odd application of such command. The former whispers to herself, " _Seriously?_ " The obviously western store clerk to their left doesn't even budge his welcoming smile.

Immediately, Kokoro takes the leftmost aisle while Heidi takes the center and Jinpachi takes the right. Yumiko stands by and makes sure they don't cause any trouble. That doesn't matter anyways since they start ripping the shelves apart to look for their coveted snack.

Slowly, she makes her way over to the clerk and apologizes, "Sorry for those three. They make very bad decisions." He just smiles and stares nervously, waving her off. She bows and tries to catch up with Kokoro who has the common sense and courtesy to place items back. Carefully. Almost obsessively, actually. She's currently fidgeting with a line of "Pez" Dispensers that she had knocked over, trying to line them back up perfectly symmetrically.

Yumiko crouches down next to her, placing a hand on her head, "It doesn't have to be perfect, you know." she says with a concerned look.

Kokoro groans. Nothing else, just groans while ignoring that advice. Yumiko starts to stroke her hair, smiling. Kokoro sighs, tilting her head and relaxing her body.

 **"TAKE IT."**

Yumiko suddenly freezes, hearing some booming, ethereal voice. It takes a minute, but she—

 **"DO IT."**

She finds her hand lingering over her friend's neck, almost gripping it firmly to her ignorance. Yumiko immediately loosens it and freezes in place. Kokoro looks back at her, "Yumi? Are you...okay?" She looks worried.

Yumiko nearly whispers, "What?"

"You're really pale!" Kokoro nearly yells at her.

Yumiko shakes her head, smiling at her and coming to her senses, "Oh, it's nothing! Just remembered something a little upsetting." She rubs the back of her head.

Kokoro just barely buys it, smiling back and standing up with Yumiko. The two are about to hug when they suddenly overhear some yelling.

Heidi is arguing with two strangers in the back. Jinpachi is behind her, and the two others...

Yumiko suddenly seems surprised, "The Maresukes!?"

The one arguing with Heidi directly looks like a male, but is totally clad in a Harimaki Do with Kabuto helmet and Tengu mask. The only part of him that's really visible is his long, brown ponytail sticking out of the back of the helmet. Behind him is a more feminine person in a similar getup, but with an oni mask. The former is armed with a nodachi while the latter carries a capped Bo staff. Both are of almost identical height and build.

The girl pats her companion on the shoulder, "Sasuke, let's not fight inside."

The boy shrugs her off and announces assertively, "No, we've been doing this since we became shinigami! I'm not just letting someone ruin that because of a whim!"

He whips his sheathed sword in front of him and yells again, "Stand back, Kurokawa. **Tomaranai-Ryuko, Storm!** " In a flash of light and smoke, his sword transforms into a Naginata wreathed in wind like the eye of a hurricane! Smaller products are flung everywhere and his armor rattles at the presence of the weapon!

Heidi yells back at them, "You little brats! Like hell I'd ever let something like tradition trump me! Besides, we were here first!"

"We were here at the same time!" Sasuke retorts.

" **Split the earth, Don'yoku Kusabi!** " Heidi shouts as she twirls her own nodachi around until it magically fades into a massive Dane Axe. The two proceed to glare at each other while Jinpachi and Kurokawa linger uneasily and reluctantly in the background.

Yumiko can't help but notice the thing they're fighting over: a bright red candied apple that seems to be the last of its kind in this particular shop. "O-Oh..." she grunts and groans, wondering how to stop this. Her and Kokoro stare on, nervously trying to figure out how to stop the entire store from being destroyed...

* * *

 _ **To be continued in part 2! This has been the first in the true chapters of Nikushimi no Ya! Stay tuned to find out how much collateral damage is wrought! And what will happen afterwards?**_

 _ **Next chapter is Act 1, Chapter 2: Sunny Days Part 2! That's right, it's just a sequel!**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	12. Act 1 CH2: Sunny Days Part 2

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 2:**

 **SUNNY DAYS PART 2**

" **Stand down!** " Yumiko yells commandingly at the two, Heidi and Sasuke, bickering over a simple snack food. She stands with her arms crossed and legs spread slightly, staring at the two samurai-costumed shinigami. Almost immediately, Sasuke and Kurokawa jerk their heads towards her and yield like trained dogs. Sasuke's weapon even retreats to its sealed form.

Shocked but cocky, Heidi speaks over the silent duo, "What, scared of my friend over there!? You ought to let us by or I'll sic her on you!"

" **Bakudo #18:** **Suishō shōheki!** "Kokoro then suddenly yells, causing Heidi to jerk her head over to _her_ before becoming immobilized by the feet. Looking down, she sees that hundreds of small yellow spiritual spikes have sprouted from the ground to impale her feet and have spread rapidly to trap all four.

"Eh!? What the hell?" Heidi seems somehow surprised by this.

Yumiko steps forward with Kokoro trailing directly behind. She announces to the four, "You're all going to settle this verbally. No arguing. Kokoro and I are going to stand here and make sure that you don't wreck anything until this is resolved. Sasuke, you and your sister can go first."

Though bound by the feet, Sasuke bows respectfully, "Thank you, Nishimura-koken." He clears his throat and explains their position, "I've been doing this particular activity for Kurokawa every year since we first entered the 10th Division. It will be her birthday soon, and so we have always had the last batch of autumn's seasonal treats before it ended: namely this one..." he points at the last candied apple and continues "We do not yet have the means to make them ourselves, so buying them is all we can do. This, I believe, is the only place that stocks them."

Kurokawa simply nods along silently. Yumiko nods as well, then switches, "And Heidi? What's your stance?"

She'd be sweating right now if it were warmer, and so thinks, _"Damn, I'm gonna lose..."_ Despite that, she still tries with the only thing her empty head can think of, "Well, we're kind of the same! Except, it's not really a tradition. More of a whim. It's not like we get to do this every year, while you do!" she points at the siblings. "So, why don't you just let us have this for once!?"

It seems like she should be saying more, but that's it. Yumiko places a hand on her chin and thinks to herself, _"It seemed so obvious at first...they both have good reasons, but which are opposites."_

Suddenly, the voice in her head echoes once again, _**"THEY ARE SENTIMENTAL BEYOND LOGIC, TAKE THE SPOILS FOR YOURSELF AND SETTLE BY NEUTRALITY."**_

Yumiko ignores the voice intentionally and groans painfully, turning to Kokoro and asking her opinion, "Oii, Kokoro, what do you think?"

Though she dislikes being put on the spot, it wasn't exactly unexpected. She stammers a little in her decisiveness but eventually comes upon the conclusion, "I...I think that the tradition is more important. You can always come back earlier next time, Heidi!" She looks over to Heidi with an expression that yells, "Please don't hate me for this."

Heidi's eye twitches, but looking at that girl makes her accept the imminent defeat. Surely enough, Yumiko agrees, "For the sake of coming to a conclusion without wasting too much time, I'll agree with her. This was simply a matter of bad timing, and I believe that the effects of Sakura and Kurokawa losing would be worse than Heidi and Jinpachi losing."

She doesn't even flinch when saying that, simply expecting the couple to accept their loss and move on. Kokoro shortly releases the bakudo spell, allowing the two siblings to grab their prize and run for the hills. "The hills" being the cashier, and then the exit. The Masamunes meanwhile need not be held back, for they know what will happen if they attempt to argue in the presence of their superior. As soon as those two leave, Yumiko gives the okay for everyone to leave, "Alright, that's done. Are we picking up a consolation or are we just going back?" Kokoro reacts wordlessly to her lack of empathy with only a look of mild concern and pity for the Masamunes.

Heidi doesn't quite answer yet, wallowing in disappointment until her husband hugs her from behind and consoles, "Don't look so down, we can go and do something nicer anyways. Remember Mt. Idaiyari?"

She perks up and glances back, "The restaurant or the actual mountain?"

"So you do?" he quips. Heidi chuckles, and he continues, "Come and follow me." The two are about to head out by themselves, as Jinpachi instructs the two to let them be alone for a while.

Yumiko and Kokoro, being essentially broke at the moment, decide to simply head on back.

* * *

On the way back, the two lose themselves in the sky until Kokoro eventually remembers what she was going to do about now. She speaks up reservedly, "It's days like this that I really love."

Yumiko glances over, ever-perceptive of her friend's emotions and thus prodding after a few moments to think, "And why's that?" with little more than a deadpan expression.

She shuffles about before responding, possibly having trouble coming up with an answer, "It's peaceful. I like how I just have to worry about things that don't matter."

Yumiko raises her brows worriedly, "You don't like going out in the field after all, do you?"

She puts her arms down and looks forward, slightly down, speaking more softly, "No. It's too stressful."

Seeing that she has no real issue with it, Yumiko continues to prod with a suggestion with no real intent behind it, "What if one of us goes in your place?"

Kokoro flinches a little, "No, that's..." she trails off, but shortly goes back on track "...worse. Then I can't help them if they get into trouble."

She starts to step a little to the side, towards Yumiko, who responds, "I think I get it."

Kokoro rubs against her shoulder and elaborates, "One of you could just disappear and I wouldn't be able to even say goodbye..."

Yumiko's mouth flattens and widens and she grits her teeth and tries not to waver, throwing an arm around the meek girl and physically reassuring her. She thinks to herself, _"So I was right; suspicions confirmed. Kokoro, you can't go on just hoping people will ask what's wrong forever... Gods, why can't you just stay happy? Why do you always have to be so melancholy all of the sudden?"_ In the midst of fighting back tears, she loses the nerve to actually say her first couple thoughts and ends up spending the rest of the walk back in silence with Kokoro wrapped around her persistently.

The girl even holds on all the way to Yumiko's room on nearly the opposite end of the barracks to Kaneko's. There, they part. Before then, however, Yumiko tells her, "Hey, go get Kaneko to treat you. If she doesn't, I'll kick her ass."

Kokoro at least doesn't look depressive now, but she still is only barely masking her discomfort with a false but not necessarily forced smile. Yumiko lightly smiles at her and inches her way into her room. When it's too late, Kokoro attempts to reach out and say something but hesitates and ultimately just mouths a half-complete sentence to the door. With a sigh, she backs up and casually makes her way down the halls.

Meanwhile in Yumiko's room, she lets out a much heavier sigh and backs up into the bed at the top right corner with the marks of utter mental exhaustion. She groans, "Why do I always let things like that happen? Aah, this was supposed to be a sane and leisurely day."

She spreads herself out on the mainly featureless bed whose only improvement is a thick layer of padding. Despite that, she still feels utterly uncomfortable and must think, _"How the hell is this thing still stiff? Is it really this uncomfortable or is that just the relentless onslaught of existential misery that comes with being dead and life still generally being sub-optimal? Maybe I'm thinking too much into this."_

It somehow just became much more uncomfortable. With the time she has alone now, she just lounges about on the mattress while blankly staring around the room.

All of the walls are plain, white, mostly nothing decorating them. The only real furniture is that of the bed and a desk on the opposite side of the room to it which extends halfway across the wall. Then, at the foot of the bed, is a simple and small wooden chest.

It's looking like the rest of the day is going to be peaceful, uneventful, and able to give her respite to recover from the still-taxing powers of her zanpakuto. And then the window right between the bed and desk flies open unannounced. _"I should really lock that thing..."_ Yumiko thinks as it happens and she stares at the open hole.

One wouldn't expect any other than Kakunaka the rogue to then leap through the window as if it weren't even there, using her 13th rank Acrobatics to land so perfectly that she can dab before standing up. Yumiko is left completely unimpressed, however, as this was the way she had entered the last three times. "What are you doing?" Yumiko asks, deadpan.

Kakunaka's uniform — now even more cut up and skin-tight than it used to be — forces her to give Yumiko a bit of a show when she stands up, but she barely reacts. Nobody comments on it. Kakunaka uninvitedly takes a seat on Yumiko's bed, who sits up and props herself against the wall at the head of the bed while complaining, "Don't just sit there."

Kakunaka tilts her head back and leans in the same direction, "Eh? We've'een friends fo' 'ow lon' an'I can' even si'on you' bed?"

Yumiko almost cringes, then says as much, "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that accent of yours."

Kakunaka pays it no heed, she simply kicks back and lies down, "So, 'ey..." she begins, to which Yumiko pays close attention "...how's i' so fa'?" She raises an eyebrow, and Kakunaka elaborates, "Life."

"Oh." Yumiko flatly says, beginning her answer, "It's the best it's going to get, I think. Everything up until now has been worse, so I'll be happy if it just keeps going like this."

Suddenly, the voice in her head shouts at her, _**"BUT ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END, AND YOU KNOW THAT."**_

She slaps herself in the forehead before realizing that didn't accomplish anything. "Except for this damn sword always pestering me." she complains.

Kakunaka nearly bursts out laughing and only barely manages to contain herself, "Bwah! You s'ill dealin' with'at!?"

Yumiko would have been offended if this were her first encounter with the tactless girl. However, she just decides to laugh it off with her and take stride much the same way. She continues on, "Everyone's doing pretty well for themselves. Haven't changed much since I first met them all. Kokoro still acts like a bubbly little kid, but I know she's got something to say all of the time. Kaneko's still an enigma, I've never understood her and probably never will. Maybe we're just not types of people who can. The Masamunes are still a bit too touchy. I kind of get jealous of them from time to time but it's not like I need that kind of thing in my life. Chiziwa's been acting pretty strange for the past few months. I think she's the type who gets really touchy with her friends. Kokoro doesn't seem to mind it when she does it to her, so maybe I'm just weird."

"An' you?"

"I have my own issues."

The two fall silent for a moment. Kakunaka elaborates on her daily life so far, "Well, 'guess mine's been pre'y cra'y s'far. The ol' pun'shment force's been o' m'tail hard."

"As always." Yumiko interjects.

"Aye; 'aven't 'ad much luck findin' 'im, either. Kin'a sucks bein' on the run like's."

They sit silently for a moment. Yumiko breaks it, "You're kind of like how I wanted to be back then. A rebel. Turns out I'm fine with this world's shit as long as I have those girls."

Kakunaka becomes melancholy in her words, "Bu'then eve'thin' comes fallin' down if they're gone. Y'really wanna live lik'at? Don' answer; y'don'."

Yumiko perks up at the sound of the girl's voice cracking, asking, "Hey, you alright?" when she sees her starting to tear up a little.

Quickly, Kakunaka wipes her eye and dismisses it without a single moment of hesitation, "Nah, I'm 'right. Jus' a li'l reminiscin' is all."

Yumiko sighs and rolls her eyes, thinking, _"Oh shit, her too? Why does everyone act like this? No, you're not alright. ...Guess I'll have to do something."_

She reaches over and gives her a light hug with an utterly defeated expression. Kakunaka immediately pushes her back and argues, "'Ey, wha'the hella' you doin'!? 'M not you' gi'lfrein'!" she means to make it sound facetious, but it ends up sounding hostile. Despite this, Yumiko isn't left feeling any different than before, except maybe a bit more mildly annoyed.

"So why did you come here, anyways?" she then leans back and asks.

"No reason. Jus' gets kind' lonely down there." They fall silent once again and just linger there for a minute. Eventually, Kakunaka leaps back to her feet after some spacing out and announces, "Guess I'll b'leavin' now. Later, Yu."

Then, just moments before she can leap out of the window, a figure clad entirely in black dives through it and tackles her to the floor, slamming her face against it and painfully forcing her hands behind her back. All of this in the blink of an eye, so suddenly that the only thing Yumiko can react with is a startled jump and backing into the wall.

As quickly as he had apprehended her, the ninja brings a dagger out from his belt and smashes it into the back of her head so cleanly that no blood comes out just yet. Yumiko gasps quietly, going utterly pale as if she were about to vomit.

Then, a thud. The ninja's head is slapped to the side by what sounds like a dense piece of wood, and then his head is forced back while he claws at his neck, held back and being choked by some invisible assailant! Kakunaka's corpse suddenly explodes into dozens of glowing spikes that pierce the ninja and immobilize him while the _real_ Kakunaka becomes visible just behind him, being the one choking him to death with a pair of coal-black nunchaku. Silently, she twists the two handles together in a chained double-helix and pulls harder on him for several seconds until he's visibly starting to run out of air. Then, she suddenly releases him and, not to waste time, proceeds to slap his head back and forth with the nunchaku. In moments, he's almost completely unconscious. The spikes and dummy fade into thin air.

As if it were nothing, she simply waves at Yumiko and dismisses it, "Sorry 'bout that!" She takes the body and drags it through the window along with herself, leaving Yumiko completely shocked into paralysis in her little dark corner.

She slowly reaches down and feels her groin area. "Oh...good." Thankfully, she hadn't pissed herself in terror. "But..." she wonders "...what the hell was that? Was that the Punishment Force? And was that dummy a kido spell or something? What the hell...?"

She then realizes that this sort of thing must happen to Kakunaka on a nearly daily basis, and suddenly has both a lot more respect and pity for her. "No, no, I shouldn't pity people..." she then reminds herself.

* * *

After a stressful few events today, Yumiko crawls back into bed and curls into fetal position while both entirely dressed and not under any sort of blanket. Still slightly traumatized by the previous experience, she tries to get some earned rest.

But it was not to be. Kaneko suddenly slams her door open and yells, "Yumiko〜!"

Yumiko flinches, hiding her face in the bed with eyes shot wide open exasperatedly, _"Godsdammit, can I at least get one fucking hour to nap!? This is insanity!"_

"Come o〜n." she persists "I know you're not awake, and I know you're going to sleep in all day if we let you."

Yumiko doesn't budge. _"Please go away."_ she begs in her head.

Almost instantly, Kaneko is next to her bed, "He〜y. I'm gonna get Chiziwa to sit on you." She's almost right next to her ear...

 _"That's not a threat!"_ Yumiko thinks _"Heidi would be a threat, why are you saying Chiziwa!?"_

Kaneko pulls out her sleek and edgy, black and red phone and opens it up, pretending to call Chiziwa all the way down to mimicking the ring tone. "Hey, Chiziwa, can you come over here and sit on Yumiko for me? She won't get out of bed."

 _"I know you're not actually calling her!"_

"What do you mean, 'she won't get out of bed like that'?" she continues to tease.

Yumiko manages to stay completely silent. After a few moments of brainstorming, Kaneko comes up with the idea to pull out a 1000 Yen note and dangle it in front of her face like bait on a hook.

 _"Seriously!?"_ Yumiko thinks, dumbfounded that she would pull such a bland trick.

 _Then again..._

Just before Kaneko can yank it away in resignation, Yumiko grabs her wrist and nabs the note from her, then slowly rises like a zombie. "What?" she snaps to make her exhaustion clear.

Kaneko isn't even bothered. She simply states her business, "Captain wants to see you. Said it was important. Did you go and break a bunch of plates all over the garden again?"

Yumiko says nothing besides, "Why didn't you just say that?" while tilting her head back with the most disappointed expression possible.

Kaneko just blows it off, "Eh? Then I don't get to mess with you."

Yumiko turns to get off the bed, suddenly wondering, "Wait, how did you know I was awake?"

Without a moment of pause, Kaneko answers flatly, "You hug your pillow in your sleep."

"Kh!" Yumiko scoffs, jerking her head down and gritting her teeth.

 _"Critical hit!"_ Kaneko thinks to herself, smiling mischievously.

Yumiko decides to dismiss this blatant infringement on her privacy and simply begins leaving. Kaneko helps her out with a pat on the back, "Hey, we'll let you nap after this. Just go and see what he wants."

She heads on back to her own room, slowly and lazily waltzing down the halls. One could notice from this angle that her clothes are only just on tight enough to not fall off.

Yumiko nods on, still not entirely satisfied but also not about to complain. Then, just as she's leaving to see the captain gets assaulted by the voice of her zanpakuto once more. She ignores it.

 _ **"IF YOU DO NOT CHANGE, ALL THINGS WILL STAY AS THEY ARE. YOU ARE THE CENTER OF THIS UNIVERSE."**_

She scoffs.

* * *

 ** _And so begins the drama! What does the captain want with Yumiko? Who were the masked Sasuke and Kurokawa? What is wrong with literally everybody? What was the foreboding message that the voice gave Yumiko? These questions and more will be answered...EVENTUALLY!_**

 ** _Next time on Nikushimi no Ya... Act 1, Chapter 3: Red and Blue! What holds in the past of the fated couple!?_**

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	13. Act 1 CH3: Red and Blue

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 3:**

 **RED AND BLUE**

November, 1944; Rukongai District 75. Near the edge of the regulated soul society, law and order break down into nothingness while the horribly abused homes become abandoned slums and begin to fall apart upon themselves after the recent deaths of their sole owners. Then, to be taken up by squatters and vagrants that would further destroy it with their gang wars.

Only the strong survive here, and the shinigami of the Seireitei are both hated for their authority and respected for their strength. Families die quickly if they ever form at all, and the strongest bonds are regularly broken for personal gain.

Only the strong survive here, and the very idea of love is a commodity that few get to experience without becoming stoic from the constant betrayal.

Only the strong survive here, those who lack empathy completely and can throw everything they have away to attain even the simplest of goals.

Only the weak survive here, for those who call themselves strong are always renown for how easily they bend to the whims of others.

Only the powerful thrive here, who have the will and inhumanity to bend everything around them. "The bosses." They keep others away from them, and that is the only way that they can retain their power.

Only the truly strong leave here, for they are the only ones with the fortitude to let go of everything they knew and approach the gold-gilded future that wanders hopelessly further away with every passing second.

Childhood friends who stuck together to the bitter end, where one or both perish at the hands of a force out of their control, or of their own petty mistakes. While one may die, the other will wallow at the last thing they had to lose and so lose themselves. They never leave.

Families who came together either through their memories of life or a lack of any before death; to cope with their poor luck. Should they all die at the hands of nature or be plucked off one at a time by hostile forces — hollows or other people, — it doesn't matter. In the end, they are always taken and broken. The last will succumb to their guilt and follow.

Strong lovers will stick to each other until one makes a heavy-handed mistake to break them apart, and they will die going their own ways. One may betray the other, but they too will be betrayed and ironically meet the same fate. True, that word sums their fate up all too nicely: ironic.

The powerful warriors will wander the streets and follow their violent whims as that is their nature. They will cause suffering, and they will end it. Their only true purpose is empty and ever-increasing in scope. Eventually, they will too succumb to their self-determined fate and die at the hands of a more worthy opponent.

The strong live, and the weak die. Is that right? It doesn't matter; they all end up the same. The images held so tightly will burn. The fires that lit them will fade. The people who held them will fall. The world that housed them will wither. And it continues.

* * *

A young girl — looking to be a teenager or a young adult — sits against the outside of a building in a dim alley, abandoned and filled with trash unlike the rough and untended roads outside of it. Her skin is pale, hair curiously blonde, rather large but still looking frail from utter starvation. Both eyes and arms are bruised and scarred, already roughskin clothes torn into pieces.

A club whittled from a branch smacks against her face as the roughian in similar shape wielding it berates her, "Get the fuck up!" He still looks like a child next to the other and much older boys standing beside him like lackeys or bodyguards.

Of course, she doesn't get up. She stares down at the dirt, at her bloodied and dirty legs, then up at the boys whose faces are overcast with traitorous shadows from the bleached god rays above.

One of those lackeys picks her up by the collar and yells, "He said get the fuck up! Don't think you can just get away with what you did to Obura!"

She spits in his face, "That piece of shit deserved it!" and gets slapped across the face for it.

That one holding her by the neck slams her against the wall and scolds her in his deep and imposing voice, "You can cooperate and take your punishment, or we can kick your ass and leave you for dead. What will it be?"

She scowls at him, her pride taking over and not allowing her to say a single word in defiance. The other larger boy pulls out a knife carved out of bone and hands it to the younger one on the latter's command. He brandishes it in front of her face and runs the edge across her cheek to draw blood. She doesn't flinch despite desperately wanting to, but she allows the fear to turn into anger. It fuels her strength and allows her to kick the younger boy across the alley, then bite the larger one's fingers hard enough to break one. He lets go and she sprints down the length.

Hurriedly, the larger boy who gave the younger his knife picks up a nearby stone and chucks it into her back with enough force to knock her down while they sprint towards her.

She's almost out into the streets, but the impact was too stunning to get up in time. She begins to crawl and stand up with lost pace. They're right behind her, about to pounce, when a passerby observing the situation from that exit leaps forward. Another boy who looks slightly older than the girl but still very large; the type whose body is naturally large and round. Mature-looking and stoic, not saying a single word while he leaps in and blocks their path. The ruffians slam into him but are stopped, and they proceed to wrestle about like Sumo match without much success. The girl, too busy staring at him to run, is looked back at and nodded to. She nods back, shakes her head, then gets back up and runs like a crippled madwoman.

She keeps running down the street, gaining speed and ignoring her body's begging to stop. For several minutes, looking back every few seconds and still being convinced of the need to keep going. Eventually, she can't run anymore and has to settle with collapsing against the front of an abandoned bakery. It's there that she lightly sobs and falls asleep. "Thank you..." is the last word she speaks before passing out.

* * *

Each day after that was a living hell. Liberated from organized banditry, she was left without their support and rations that had kept her alive for years. She couldn't go back after such an incident and be welcomed, so she ran into unfamiliar grounds in a vain search for some form of pity. Every so often there would be a kind person who would share their home for a day, but none would dedicate themselves to a vagrant.

Every minute, she thought about how maybe that person who saved her would appear again. Maybe he would be the one to take her in, or maybe they would be able to survive together regardless. Despite how clearly stupid the idea, it was the only thing she had left to want.

A month passed. She lie in the streets like the dying homeless that she had been taught to ignore in the past. They littered the street, some had actually passed a long time ago and simply had nowhere to be buried. Out of pity, the carriages and pedestrians all averted their course to not run the child over. It wasn't an abnormal sight, but still one that everybody threw melancholy looks at, for it reminded them that even their afterlife was mortal; that everything still revolved around death.

She lies there, cheek pressed against the ground and staring at a water stand. The man managing it saw her pleading expression but did nothing. Then, a person approaches as a silhouette. They purchase a vessel of water wordlessly, as if it were a formality at that point. He turns to leave, but stops. She can only see his feet as he approaches and crouches beside her.

He grabs ahold of her and sits her against him, sitting up. She has the strength to at least retain posture, but couldn't possibly lift the water. He does so for her, untying the cloth cap and bringing it closer, tipping it towards her and nearly force-feeding the liquid. He decides not to spare a sizable amount, taking it and re-tying the cap after just several seconds. The girl who has regained some of her strength pushes her head against him and manages to mutter, "Thank you..." once more.

He reaches into a sack he was carrying and pulls out something wrapped in dried plants. Unfolding it, he holds up a compacted ball of white rice and tears off a piece to feed to her. She chews slowly and swallows weakly, then begs for more by clinging to him. Regardless, he continues to break off small pieces and feed them to her. As she regains strength, she starts to tear up. He ignores it and keeps going even after half of the rice he had is gone. He tries to keep going, but she quietly lowers his hand.

"You need this more than I do." he insists in a very deep and soft voice that she can tell is used very sparingly. Vision starts to come back into color and become clearer. She stares up at his face and memorizes it: Round, but also rugged; the slight growth of facial hair that usually only occurs later in life, faintly green irises which would blend with the ocean were he next to it. His hair has mostly fallen out and is mainly covered by a straw hat that only does so much to conceal that fact.

By the time she has finished looking at him, he has dragged her into the shade beneath the water vendor's stand. With newfound motivation and energy, she manages to stand herself back up and stare as he takes his leave. Of course, she follows.

She continues to trail him slowly for several minutes, eventually stopping when she realizes that he's going into a nearby house. She hides on that house's side-wall and thinks of what to do next. Some old woman opens the door and yells, "Jinpachi, you're late!"

He quietly apologizes, and she continues, "Quit apologizing! Just get in here and start on the floors!" and slaps him on the back of the head. He walks in and a commotion kicks up, with a couple yelling about at each other and that boy, Jinpachi.

She walks over to a neighboring demolished house and sits beside it, listening for the rest of the day and waiting for him to come back out. He doesn't. Each hour passes with more arguments, and the faint sounds of crashing; people slapping each other about.

"You little shit!" a man inside yells, catching Heidi off guard. She doesn't catch the rest, but can soon barely hear the boy apologizing to them pleadingly and without rest. Eventually, as the sun is about to fall on the horizon, she gets up and drags along the ground a splint of wood from the rubble, walking slowly towards the house.

"You can hate me later..." she whispers to nobody in particular before ripping off the flimsy cloth covering the front entrance. She slowly makes her way in and hoists the club on her shoulder, using the cover of their voices to inch through the claustrophobic hallway and towards their decrepit and nearly collapsed bedroom. She passes quietly by Jinpachi in the dark kitchen, who can't help but freeze in place at the sight of the girl he had saved earlier.

The two filthy looking adults clothed in bleakly colored rags are too busy arguing with each other over who took the woman's vase to notice Heidi sneaking up behind them. She raises one leg, primes the club in the air like a hefty pole-hammer and slams her entire weight plus the weapon into the back of the woman's head. Her face is completely deadpan, staring and uncaring like a murderous crow, but silently angry enough to have been hyperventilating; each breath bringing her closer to snapping and screaming. Before the man can even look towards her, she swings it sideways with both hands into his shins.

He trips, falling forwards and screaming in pain, grasping at the girl who backs up and hoists the stick above her head. She starts to breathe heavily again, then lets herself smirk despite holding it in. Her entire body trembles, gripping her weapon hard enough to deform it very slightly, and she can't even hesitate to slam it against his skull once more. A soft thud, then another as she beats him with it again. She keeps going, and going, slamming it against their unconscious bodies as if hacking them to pieces, but all the weapon she holds can do is slowly break until it snaps in two from sheer overuse. Its length and her hands — no, her entire body — are covered in numerous specks of blood.

She lets go, throwing it to the side and staying quiet. Her smile disappears, but her stressed breathing continues. She turns around, feeling her face and smearing the red about unintentionally. She attempts to walk out, but finds her entire body too wracked with shock and fatigue to move far. A weakness unlike any other, brought on by an inability to properly process her own actions. This wouldn't be the first time she had done something like this, but it certainly was the first time it had been driven by desire rather than duty.

Eventually, she finds the strength to walk out. Slowly. She uses the wall for support while staring at the ground, eyes widened and filled with the visible aftershock of adrenaline.

"Why?" she hears to her side, the familiar voice of that boy. He stands before her, pale and obviously scared beyond rational thought.

She lifts her head up and limply rests against the wall. She slowly but eventually responds, "They won't hurt you anymore..."

He backs away, staring at her like she's gone completely mad, but that may have fairly already been the case. She inches forward and grabs onto him faster than he can react, then whispers into his ear, "Run. Run far away. Take everything you need and follow me."

He can only gasp and stammer instead of formulating a coherent response, trying to push her away but not having the mental fortitude to do so.

She clings more tightly to him, "You can hate me after we're safe."

Hesitantly, he frees himself from her grasp and proceeds to silently raid the kitchen and other rooms for anything of real value: Food, water, a few sellable valuables, and a poorly made dagger; all mostly patched up into a bag. They meet outside, where Heidi nods to him, grabs his hand, and they simply run. Down the road, past the empty buildings and few hollow men wandering the street; past the dead trees and dirt clouds. With their last ounces of daily strength, they leave their forsaken past behind. Hand in hand, Heidi leading, no direction other than forward.

* * *

And after seven years, they still run like so, with haste and will unlike any they may pass along the way. Yet, it seems like it has somehow changed. No longer is the air they break through bleak and unsightly, and no longer do their steps and stares carry regret or disdain. Where they had fled nowhere in their youth, now they had purpose and a home to run to.

It was some form of bonding, that was for sure. A given, that those two would grow to love as they were alone together, but not just each other; the loneliness itself. They were the only ones to care about each other; the rest of the world would just sit by on the sidelines and have their own problems. They were not bothered by it; quite the opposite.

They had scoured the tallest hills and their forests that lay beyond the barren townscape and ruins; sitting there under the night sky at every opportunity and memorizing the feeling of the pure and unsullied silence.

They had found the paradise beyond hell, where rivers and waterfalls were unpolluted and sparkling with the incandescence of the stars above. They used it to cleanse themselves of everything.

Soaked of pure waters, they could bathe in life in the battles against the girl's past. Many sought her death; their vengeance, but laid across the ground in the end at the couple's feet. All would come to fail against them not for their superior tact and weaponry, but for their superior and indomitable will.

An insurmountable giant wielding a sword and shield twice the size of any man's, both arms of it working in tandem through all hardships to cover each other. Inseparable, unyielding, they were the sole necessary parts of the whole.

They came to an impasse, the sword wanting only to harm and the shield wanting never to harm. The idol threw both aside, only for them to recognize the futility of the inner turmoil, and accept it as it existed.

Soon the weapons were reclaimed by another idol, fairer than the last and the owner of many arms. It had cherished solitude before and soon rejected it, allowing its many arms to hold each their own swords and shields.

With time, it rusted, and it came to accept its age. Soon, it realized, that it would have to part and leave the sword and shield to their own devices. Then, when all hope seemed lost, they had become their own idols joined in union and fused. They looked back at the rusted statue and smiled, knowing the lessons that the two had taught them.

And then they realized that without more arms, the loss of one would mean the loss of the other. It would be unsurvivable, for any weapon without its complement is entirely inferior versus any odds. And so, reliant, after years had been spent in ignorance and immaturity, they sought a brighter light. They looked south, and the midday sun sat upon a high tower in the distance, where buildings of white and gold begged to be fought over.

And they chose to fight, as they always have. Peace would lead to eventual destruction, so they risked their peace for glory. Ever-consuming and all-embracing glory.

* * *

They lie next to each other in a broken down shack only the size of a single living room, cramped up in a tiny one-person bed under covers that were clearly ripped up sacks filled with cotton. Yet, they smile at one another, her lying halfway atop him, both ragged and sweating, and now grown nearly to how we know of them now.

Heidi whispers to her lover, "So what were you talking about earlier? Before we got into bed."

He whispers back, though not as carefully, "I was thinking that this place wouldn't be big enough. And I don't want to stay here forever. It's not a good place."

Heidi complains, "But we already beat off that gang, and we can just build onto the shack, right? Or go into the wilderness and do it there."

But Jinpachi argues back, "But we could be more than that."

"You mean...?" she becomes somewhat surprised, speechless, guessing what would come next and not knowing how to take it.

He elaborates, "Becoming one of them. Going to the capital. It would be better there."

She admits with some disappointment, "I guess it's more kid-friendly."

He can sense the sullen tone in her voice, "What's the matter?"

That tone intensifies, becoming nostalgic, "This place has a lot of memories. It's hard thinking of leaving it behind." She grips his chest tightly.

He immediately consoles her, "I know that feeling, but think about it: We'll have the same idea about wherever we go in the future. If we don't go soon, you'll never be able to let go."

She sighs fondly, "You're right. I guess being sentimental isn't always a good thing..."

They relax for a short while with their tunics in a mess until she speaks up again, "You've always been the smart one, haven't you?"

He grins, but tries to restrain it, "Don't imply that. You're smart in your own way. After all, who taught me how to fight?"

She grins at him lovingly, "That's enough flattery. We can start going tomorrow, so get some rest."

"I could tell you the same thing." he jokes. The two share a laugh, eventually falling asleep as close to each other as possible.

The rain falls heavily. Black rain, weighted with lead and sorrow. It pounds against the roof of the abandoned shack like a set of powerful tribal drums, and soon like shells of artillery going off in the distance. The glassless windows are soaked and dripping from the torrent outside and the roof drips, soaking the long rotten bedding.

Inside, looking out is a shadow. A young and short figure, caressing a vase of roses that sits alone by the window on the one table. They stare at the rain, allowing it to blend with the vanishing ruins of a once fair township. The drops patter on their head, and they don't react.

The drops continue to fall; intensify until one touches the roses in the vase. Its water turns into oil, and the red petals wither into ashes. They suffocate and blacken even as the shadow's hands touch them. The petals begin to fall from the ceiling, the drops becoming them.

Outside, in the flurry of ashes, the shadow crouches and holds its roses up into the sky, letting them be disintegrated by the bleeding sun above. The blackened petals and ashes turn silver, into a deadly snow. The lightning from the storm above strikes its hands.

The old shack collapses, water pouring in and destroying everything inside. Wood splinters and crashes, making a horrible thud. The only thing left unharmed in the end was the vase, housing its roses that had died long ago. Old and dead, they sit. The snow would soon consume this place, and so the shadow will be gone long before.

* * *

 _ **Now, with the background of Heidi and Jinpachi established, who is next? And what will become of the the couple? Only one way to find out.**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	14. Act 1 CH4: AV

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 4:**

 **A/V**

Kaneko sits in her room, in front of her computer. This time she has an IBM PC hooked up and running DOS. Running the original _DOOM_ and nearing the end of the game. Final level, final boss, giant head in the wall. She sighs. Just stops, right there in the middle of it. Quits the game. Sits there, quietly, staring at the black and white screen with text from her only previous command still lingering on it. "C:\DOOMdoom". Just stares and thinks about something, though one would be hard-pressed to figure out exactly what her mindset is.

She looks up at the ceiling and spins around in her chair. Her shihakusho that she had mostly taken off falls out. She stares at it mildly and spins back around to the computer, now pretty much nude. She doesn't care. Wouldn't care if anyone barged in, but the darkness of the window above her station shows that everyone should be asleep. Who would interrupt, Kokoro? Maybe, but maybe not. It doesn't matter.

Rather, that's what she believes. Suddenly, an idea. She types "cd asic" and enters, then "asic". A blue screen pops up with a cursor visible. Not a mouse cursor, but one for typing. She slowly starts tapping at it, but seems to become disheartened very quickly. After stating the variables, she makes a new line for the actual batch file, but just quits typing and sits back. A minute passes, she sits forward and tries again. Nothing comes.

She heftily groans, throwing herself back in her chair and spreading out liberally. It's uncomfortable. She sits there silently again. Many long minutes pass.

"Hello?" she calls out into the empty room as she turns around and stares at the usually occupied space. She could hear a pen drop.

She picks up and drops a pen from her desk. Despite the floor being carpet unlike her colleagues', she can hear its thud. A keyboard falls off of her pile of junk. She suddenly realizes that the pile is right next to her bed and might collapse onto it as well.

She discards the thought and stands up, picking the pen up with her toe and raising it, then plucking and placing it onto the desk. She stands there, looking down at the ground, at herself and appearing listless. She feels numb, but takes a step forwards anyways and looks about the room while keeping her hands behind her head leisurely. She ignores the keyboard that had dropped a moment ago and turns towards her dresser and the TV sitting atop it. An old CRT one. Of course, it's mostly useless. Nobody in the Seireitei uses these anymore, and it can't pick up outside world channels. No antenna, nothing. Just the basics and an old VHS tape player sat next to it. On top of that, a Sony Betamax player. SL-5200. Tons of old tapes sitting next to them, all sorted by size, then by her favorites in stacks, then alphabetically within each stack.

She bends over and turns the knob on the TV, switching it to static. It makes little sound, the dead air. It wouldn't matter which channel she tuned it to, it would all be just plain static right now. So she bends over and stares at it, as if into a black void, with the curiosity of a fearless scientist. Gazing into the abyss while it gazes back. She sits back, leaning against the table and boredly staring. Minutes, full minutes pass. Shapes begin to form in the violently shifting black and white specks.

* * *

A burning world. A city say on fire, being razed with nobody in sight running away; they had all died. The last man standing, a wandering ronin. The army he had trusted to defend his home failed. They lie slaughtered like stuck pigs in the streets. A beast loom over the burning city, spearing the homes of his past friends like fish in a bucket. Wordlessly, fearlessly, he marches forward into its blazing rage to fight fire with fire.

Slowly, he draws his sword and so screams, " **NUE!** " as he charges forth at the beast in a blind rage. The flames consume his body, and he would soon find himself confronting his deepest fear.

Kaneko snaps out of her spacing out. She's still staring at the TV, and turning to any other part of the room causes her vision to be taken over by weird spots. She stands up, entire vision going blurry in the process and making her stumble around for a minute. It clears up eventually, and she slowly walks back to her desk. In one drawer she pulls open to the right is a stack of blank paper and several pens aligned in a perfectly geometric manner. With a couple pages and a pen in hand, she returns to her kotatsu and sinks under it, placing the supplies on top and crackling her fingers while she gets comfortable. The static screeches in the background.

She begins; boredly staring down at the paper while making small marks all around it. She thinks, and thinks harder. The scratches eventually become sketches of rising fires. She looks back up at the static and gazes into it once more, returning to her drawing afterwards. The ronin she imagined cae next with simple shapes first. Instead of filling out his details, she skips to the buildings which had been reduced to rubble. Neither does she finish those before moving on to the beast in the background, getting its rough shape down and shading it into a silhouette. Some sort of giant whale-looking thing on six insectoid legs.

She sighs, placing the pen down and scooting deeper under the kotatsu where it's warm and inviting. Slowly, she sinks and becomes enveloped by its soft orange underlight. Not dozing off, she wanders again into her mind as she caresses the bottom of the table and thinks about everything she had to do to acquire it. She smirks. Her denreishinki vibrates. A text from somebody, a nobody.

"Where do I put the package?"

She closes her eyes in annoyance and replies, "234, 612, -12"

Coordinates to some arbitrary location that she had figured out a while ago. With the mood ruined, she slides out from under the table and lies there for a moment Gets up soon, bangs her head against the table. Bangs her head against the bed behind her. Bangs her head against the wall after standing up. Vision blurs, and music plays in her head. Some sort of psychedelic rock tune with plenty of screeching to go in tune with the television that is now practically roaring. She stomps over to it, growing restless and angry, and nearly rips the dial off with how hard she turns it off. Silence would fill the room, but instead her own mind won't let her rest for even a second.

To sate herself, she starts playing the song that got stuck in her head on the denreishinki, "05. Free Zone". She turns it up enough for it to resonate within the room fairly loudly. It would probably wake up everyone, but she doesn't care. She stands there, setting the phone-like device perfectly beside the TV. As the intensity of the song picks up, her body becomes restless. Hands fidget, eyes dart from place to place, breathing becomes erratic, and she finally begins pacing around the room. Primarly around the kotatsu, then back and forth between the bed and the dresser. Seemingly random in pattern, but actually in a complex tempo.

She doesn't even notice that the song has change twice now. "07. Like a Lizard". An upbeat piano tune, very quick and riling. She can't sit still for even a second, just continues to pace around for another 3 minutes. The song changes once again, this time to a very slow guitar piece. She finally calms down. She stops completely when she notices a slight silhouette on the door. A familiar one. She steps in front of the door but far from it.

* * *

The figure stands outside of her door. Has been for the last 10 minutes. Just standing idly with their hand weakly balled up and about to knock on the door. Yet, they stood there that entire time and just listened. It was Yumiko, made obvious by the short ponytail obviously visible from the side. She had stopped upon hearing nothing inside but music and seeing nothing but Kaneko's shadow pacing around the room. Her expression is serious and slightly agitated, but also empathetic to a degree. Enough to stop her. As the music continues, she starts to lower her hand and leans against the door, listening and enjoying it as well.

Kaneko stares at the silhouette. Intently, wondering if she would come through. She knows who it is, but won't say anything. She's completely still.

Yumiko turns to stare as well. Her frown fades, replaced by complacency despite the noise. She knows the girl can see her, so they just stare at each other.

Many minutes pass, many shifts of tune. Lyrics come and go with little attention paid. Yet, it sings...

"Although I must be innocent, now I am punished. I wasn't the one who sewed those seeds, but nevertheless I have to pull up the flowers that bloomed from them."

"I can't say I didn't know about it, but I don't remember taking any part in it. I think my freedom cost me dearly, but I don't remember selling my soul so cheaply."

"Hey Hey Until I die and say farewell... Hey, hey... no one can touch me. You probably don't know the eternal outlaws prowling in the distant night."

"The act wasn't inexcusable but the wounds from it aren't curable. On nights when I almost want to cry, I hold a woman and fly high away from this petty, corrupt world."

"Hey, hey, until I die and say farewell... Hey, hey... no one can touch me. You probably don't know the eternal outlaws prowling in the distant night."

"Although I must be innocent, now I am punished. I think my freedom cost me dearly, but I don't have the guts to sell my soul so cheaply..."

Yumiko nods. She turns, raising a hand and giving a farewell she knows Kaneko can see. Just a quick closed fist hanging slightly in the air, a quiet resolve. Kaneko nods back. She turns the music off shortly after.

And after that, she would gather her clothes up and re-dress to become slightly less unpresentable. She lingers in front of her door, hand prepared at the far side to slide it open at any second. She hesitates. It's been at least half a minute. That girl's probably gone back to her room. She bangs her head against the door. More lingering, more hesitation. More, more, more, more, more...

More. The dark of night would pierce through the light of the room if she were any more still. She backs away. Quietly questioning herself, she falls backwards. She lets her clothes slide off once again. She lies there. Closes her eyes and breathes in and out, deeply and slowly.

A sudden melancholy takes over. She expects to hear the sound of rain battering the roof and and thunder in the distance. Yet, nothing comes. It's the one thing from the outside she misses. Weather didn't seem to exist here. They had kept it out for a long time and let the reaches beyond the Seireitei deal with it. Despite how the sky looked and how the temperature felt, despite being able to see the droplets falling beyond the barrier, it would not fall here. There were no rainy days, no snowy days, nor torrents or catastrophes. She mutters a slight curse to the one who decided to make this a paradise.

* * *

The room begins to shrink. As she opens her eyes after many minutes of dozing away, everything seems so much closer. More claustrophobic. The ceiling is far away, but the walls have closed in. What was once a small room is now a hallway, and she's stuck to the wall of it. The furniture is nailed to the walls as well.

She crawls across the lopsided floor towards her bed, dragging her clothes along only until halfway there. She crawls up0 into it and lazily lingers with her legs dangling off of it and touching the floor. It's comfortable. She had gotten a much softer mattress than is standard, and several large quilts on top of that. No pillows, though. She eventually swings them up into the bed and wraps herself in the topmost quilt like a cocoon. Stays like that. Eventually, she rolls off of the bed and wriggles beneath the kotatsu again where she lingers for another half hour in a simple but satisfyingly warm position.

The warmth fades. She sighs into her quilt as she unwraps from it and rises — again, lazily. Finally, she returns to her computer chair again. Restarts the machine. Doesn't seem to feel like hooking up a new one. She wonders in the act, do they feel when you shut them down like that? If you hard-reset the machine, does it feel like being killed? Wonders what it must feel like, if the wafers are the machine's nervous system of sorts. Maybe the semi-conductors are the brain, and the rest of the innards are nerves. The case is the skin, and getting anything on the wafers is like directly touching someone's nerves. She doesn't know what that would feel like, but imagines it would be painful. But maybe that's all wrong.

She can barely stand to wait for the numbers and letters to roll across the screen. There's apparently a lot on it; it takes a while to boot. While waiting for it, she pulls out the latest issue of Seireitei Communication. Actually, it's a month old. There are a huge stack of the magazines to her left, unarranged. She flips through it, looking for a particular page. Finds it in moments: A provocative full-page spread of the entire Shinigami Men's Association, shirtless and posing. Their appeal was not supposed to be the focus of the preceding article, but Kaneko chooses to use it that way. Well, they were shirtless anyways but now they're _more_ shirtless. She grins, then starts poking the page while holding it sideways with one hand. Poking the faces of the members, one by one, with a malicious glare to her eyes. Not just a lustful one, but something else mixed in as well.

The computer had booted up already. Taking notice, she decides to write down a note in it. Starts with the names of each of those people in a list. She puts a number beside each one.

"Ukitake - 70,000 Kan. 3"

"Hisagi - 50,000 Kan."

"Omaeda - 45,000 Kan."

"Akon - 43,000 Kan."

"Iba - 40,000 Kan."

"Kira - 35,000 Kan."

"Ogido - 33,000 Kan."

"Iemura - 25,000 Kan."

She tosses the magazine aside, then continues to write down more names. An hour passes, and soon she has almost every male she can think of in the entire Seireitei on the tip of her tongue written down with a value beside it. With another smirk, she chuckles to herself and kicks back in her chair.

After a few moments of relaxing in front of the list and giving it a think or two, she says aloud, "Didn't really want to go here today, but..."

She pulls out her phone, holds it in her lap, then takes her zanpakuto and whispers to it, " _Tower through the sky, Idaina Kenchikka_."

The blade disappears, but she still holds onto the handle while two black gloves covered in circuitry envelope her hands. They connect to a device that appears on her head in the form of a black helmet and translucent blue visor that covers her entire upper face. It lights up dimly, and neon teal wires begin to sprout from the gloves whereafter they implant into the Denreishinki itself. The screen goes blank white, and Kaneko almost immediately falls limp. Images begin to flood the visor, making it light up much more brightly. Kaneko smiles, moving the hand the held her phone down, and down, between her legs...

The night goes on, yet ends in silence.

* * *

 _ **Next chapter: Act 1, Chapter 5 - Forlorn. The hardly touched character of Kakunaka will find her due elaboration, and we will find her in very precarious circumstance. What could have made someone like her?**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	15. Act 1 CH5: Forlorn

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 5:**

 **Forlorn**

It's dark, here in the sewer. Not quite a foul stench, as this part was abandoned some time ago, but still not ideal anyways. She was used to the crushing claustrophobia of the damp canals. Nothing more comforting than being alone, to some, but to her it was a necessary evil. The stout, tomboyish girl Taeko Kakunaka is encamped here just close to a forgotten manhole, this place a secret pathway of sorts that few knew of. Perfect for a runaway.

She sits in front of a blazing but soon to be fading fire under a pot of boiling soup. Just sitting on a box and leaning forward, staring into its mesmerizing light. Actually, it would be unfair to call it soup or stew. More like a reddish gruel being boiled in broth. She nearly chokes at the smell of it getting into her nose and so sits up more. While waiting for it to cook, she finds herself spacing out, looking completely dead and motionless in the process.

The atmosphere for daydreaming was fine. Cool, not too hot due to being away from the sun. Comfortably humid from being around water but not so much as to be uncomfortable; at least it's like that in the summer. It certainly feels like your typical basement conditions, and the fire just enhances the atmosphere as the sole indication of a companion that the girl has, besides her usually quiet sword spirit. But this is a digression fit only to delay the horribly inevitable.

* * *

Southern Rukongai district 51. Another in the series of only okay-ish districts that are barely still hospitable. This time more lively and less depressing than most of the others. The people are actually up and about; not lying in the streets and dying. They say that when it comes to the South, it only gets worse once every 3 districts. Nobody really believes it, but they try to uphold that anyways with a faux-chipper demeanor wherever one goes.

In this district and beside a broken down hut of a house, a young, short-haired girl stands outside and waits, a bouquet of wildflowers in her arms that clashes with the roughspun tunic and general destitute appearance. Despite the look, she puts on a wide smile and looks out far and wide for something. Something that doesn't seem to be coming. The day passes, as do the people. Some give her stares, some awe at her charm, and most simply pass by without a second thought until soon the sky paints itself a deep orange. No hope lost, she stands firm and waits.

Finally, it pays off. One recognizable person appears on the horizon, running towards her. She stares at the silhouette quizzically until it gets close enough to make out: an older boy — nay, a young man at least — with similar black hair swept to the side and threatening to spike up as if it defies gravity. Surely because of the humidity, but still a fairly odd and entertaining sight. His body is cloaked almost entirely in a tight-fitting shihakusho.

The girl yells at him, "Na-ku-su〜!" While waving and trying not to drop her now slightly wilted flowers.

He yells back, "Tae-ko〜!"

Then, he suddenly disappears and reappears in front of her. Taeko jumps up, then smiles and giggles, "Nakusu, here!" She hands him the bouquet, then waits for his response.

He slowly bends over and asks while taking them in both hands, "And what's this for?"

"Y'coo'!" she exclaims excitedly, jumping a little at the same time. She shifts her feet around restlessly and gives a wide smile.

However, Nakusu suddenly drops his smile into a flat stare. He silently stands there, crouching down to her eye level. Contemplates something for just a few seconds, then smiles slightly once more and gives her a light hug. At the same time, he whispers, "Taeko, you new last name is Kakunaka, alright?"

She drops her smile now, regaining her quizzical look and accompanied by a more worried raise of the brows. "Wha'?" she questions him.

"If anyone asks, your last name is Kakunaka. 'Right? That's our surname now." he insists.

Taeko still looks confused and worried. Obviously uncomfortable with this. "Bu'...?" she trails off before even thinking of an argument.

Nakusu shushes her, "Don't worry about it." then switches the subject "And say it right. If you keep that accent, nobody will know what you're saying."

"I'm try'n'!" she pleads at him.

He doesn't give much resistance, "Okay, I get it! Don't go yelling like that. Have you and mom eaten today?"

She shakes her head. Nakusu smiles, "How about I make you guys some stew?"

Taeko perks up, "You's?"

He nods, "The one and only."

Taeko gives him a surprise hug, but something's off about it. He can feel his chest get slightly wet, only realizing a few moments later that she's tearing up. He embraces her back and says, "Come on, let's go inside. You can get all emotional later."

* * *

Suddenly, she feels a heat near her face. Taeko awakens from her daydream and finds herself slipping into the fireplace. Almost falling forward, she catches herself and yet still throws her hand forward and into the flames. She grasps it, hard; leaving it there until her hand burns with pain. Doesn't cry, and barely flinches. She removes it a split second later and sucks air through her teeth, then exhales deeply. Her hand is somehow unharmed for the most part but still burns.

Just then, the pot of gruel looks like it's about to boil over. She sits there and watches it, growling and giving it a glare as if cursing the thing. However, she then realizes that it wouldn't be good for it to boil over and removes it from the fire. Takes a wooden ladle out and stirs the mixture until it looks slightly appetizing. Slightly.

There, she brings the filled ladle up to her face and blows until it cools, then begrudgingly sips of it. Meanwhile, she begins to sing to herself in a whisper, the Takeda Lullaby.

"I wou'd hate bab'-sittin' b'yon' Bon Fest'val."

"Da snow begins t'fall, 'n' th'baby cries."

"Ho' c'n I be 'appy ev'n when Bon Fest'val's 'ere?"

"I don'ave nice clo's or a sash t' wear."

"This chil' continue t' cry an' is me'n t'me."

"Ever' day I grow thinner."

"I'd quickly depa't he'e an' go back."

"In tha dis'ance, I can see my paren's' home."

"In tha dis'ance, I can see my paren's' home..."

Her voice trails off and begins to tremble, repeating the last line over and over as she slowly sips from her food. She stops after a minute to look around. Darkness surrounds her. The fire only illuminates enough for it to feel empty and ominous. Only one wall; the one she's next to — is visible and tinted orange. She looks down at her bedroll. Thin, no more than a single cover and a straw pillow.

She sighs. Looks over her shoulder and stares into the dark more, simply thinking. She eventually bends back over and stares at the fire as it slowly runs out of fuel, sipping the gruel at a similar pace. There, she closes her eyes and continues to look back.

* * *

"So how's work been?" an almost elderly woman asks Nakusu from across the table as they feast on particularly steaming bowls of stew.

"Not as good as I'd like it. Way too strict. The captain's kind of a bitch." he complains to her mid-bite. "I wish I hadn't joined the Onmitsukido. Thought it was cool at first, being all ninjas and everything. No, I haven't even had a mission in months."

Suddenly, there's a loud slurping sound from his side. Taeko has the bowl firmly pressed against her face for several seconds before slamming it down and smiling at her brother, lower face covered in liquid. "Done!" she exclaims to him, and indeed the bowl is empty.

"As usual." Nakusu comments, smiling back at her, but once more losing the smile in just moments. What she says next catches him off guard.

After wiping her face with her arm, she tells him, "I'll come 'n' join witchya!"

"They won't let you in if you talk like that." he argues with her. She persistently smiles.

"Bu' I'm fast!" she yells, standing off of her seat.

Nakusu leans forward and grabs her, "Don't. I know you're fast, but it's not that simple."

She calms down, but looks sorrowfully at him, "But...I wanna help you."

Nakusu stares at her seriously, "Don't just go 'n' chase me. You have your own life to live."

With his hand on her shoulder, she nuzzles into it and crawls up next to him. He realizes what she wants, and so wraps his arm around her while he continues to eat with the other. He finds himself eventually looking around the room at their house: a wooden shack of sorts with only this room and a bedroom. A few of the walls have holes in them, and the cold seeps through easily. They're lucky to be wearing shoes thanks to him, but it doesn't make their residence any better. The table is just a low slab of wood. The bowls, much the same are just carved wood.

He looks back down at Taeko, resting against him peacefully but sadly. Then at their mother, smiling at him from across the table. Clearly aging, hair having started to turn gray a while ago. He sighs quietly.

"I don't know why you stay here." he comments aloud, about accidentally.

Their mother looks at him quizzically, but can't really say anything.

Taeko forgets what happens after that. Only that she had gotten to sleep with her brother that night, and that he never came back afterwards. No words, no goodbyes, just a quiet evening and silent disappearance.

She waited outside the next day. Then the next. All day, all night. Nothing more to do, no life outside her home and family. When it rained, she waited by the window and stared down the street. When it snowed, she laid in bed and slept the days away.

Eventually, someone came knocking. A tall man dressed in red with a large, triangular hat covering his face. His words to the mother who answered the door haunted Taeko, "Do you know a young man by the name of Nakuzu —?"

She didn't hear the answer. All she could do was think of the worst possible thing she could imagine: He died. It resounded in her head over and over, pounding like a migraine against the front of her skull. By the time it had subsided, she was being shaken by the shoulders by their mother, who was babbling something inaudible and incoherent.

"This can't be happening." is what repeated in her head afterwards; ceaseless, ever-present, and paralyzing. She had forgotten her old name. To honor that last request of his, she took on her new name entirely.

It was only a week later when she overcame the shock that she learned he had merely gone missing. It only cheered her up slightly to know that he may well be alive somewhere, but not enough to bring her out of bed. That is, until the realization that she could do something to help.

* * *

The following summer and every one afterwards, she trained. Running, jumping, climbing, stealing, stalking, hunting. All things she would need for her single absolute goal: To join the 2nd Division Onmitsukido and use them as a means to the end. How a young one such as herself came to that conclusion can only be explained by betraying one's expectations and accounting for an inhuman level of determination. Truly, she was far from another dumb kid.

It took nearly 15 years before she truly had the confidence to attempt entry into the academy, and it payed off greatly upon discovering she outclassed every contender by virtue of speed alone.

And yet besides that, the memories of that time too waver greatly. For better or for worse, though she does very keenly remember the hell that the special training for the 2nd Division gave her. The officers were not kind, especially to her attitude: not liking to take orders, and often doing tasks on her own terms. Sometimes it still reached the same end goal, but other times it simply failed completely. Not predictable which, nor was she in general. She repeatedly voiced her opinion on their methods and was not kindly received, but was also respected amongst the other initiates for exactly that: owning her freedom. If there was anything impossibly difficult to do in the Onmitsukido, it's exactly that. Especially under the new management of the Punishment Force's captain Sui-Feng.

She had heard from her brother how wonderful of a person the commander-in-chief was, but apparently that one was gone before she even got to see them. The overall experience could be summed up as "Annoying and stressful". She couldn't cope. This spirited personality couldn't handle the rigidity and uniform secrecy required for the means she wished to use for her goal.

So she ran. At the end of her education and training at the academy, just days after being truly accepted into the 2nd Division, she took her sword that had been given by those very people and simply ran, fleeing underground into the sewers and catacombs underneath the Seireitei.

It would have been a joyous moment to finally be liberated from their insufferability, had she not nearly been killed in the process. The Punishment Force doesn't take particularly kindly to defectors, and it made no exception for her. Despite her giving no real warning, a squad of men somehow caught her before she could even escape the premises of the main barracks.

She tried to run from them, but was barely able to outrun just one, much less outsmart 4 or possibly more. Entrapped and with little advantage, she merely had to survive their onslaught with sheer willpower. The only reason she had escaped then was because they had no intent of killing her until she got the upper hand and killed one of theirs. Taking their shock as an advantage, she cast smoke in their eyes and distracted them for just long enough to lose their sight. And with it finally done, she found peace in the exploration of the underbelly where she would lie in hiding for the next two decades.

Nearly 20 years, alone. All alone in the darkness, like where she stands now. On the run; hunted like a wild rabbit and with only skill and luck by her side. Few allies, only a few sparse people from the 4th Division who keep her location a secret. She cannot even step foot outside lest the assassins strike again to capture her dead or alive. All of it continuous, with no progress being made to her ultimate goal. And none of it matters, just like now.

* * *

Her head is dipped forward again, eyes wavering back and forth; side to side. Hand placed firmly on the butt of her dagger, slowly unsheathing it. She slouches over more and brandishes the dagger with its blade reflecting the burning light of the fire before her. She lifts it towards her face, slowly gliding the cool flat along her cheek until the edge meets with her neck.

She chokes, gasps, shudders and mutters to herself something incoherent. "No..." it sounds like. She swallows and grits her teeth, taking the edge off but still lingering with both hands on the handle and the tip pointed squarely at herself. Hesitating, her arms start to shake and make the blade itself rattle around noisily. A strength comes from it, as if tugging the weight of the blade away from her; as if the spirit in the blade itself is begging her to stop.

She throws her arm down and chokes again, eyes tearing up as she plants the blade back into its scabbard. Then, just as it quietly clicks into place, she hears the unmistakable sound of a footstep. Not a normal one, but one of hard and very solid wood hitting the stone floor. Clacking, and coming closer quite rapidly, despite the low amount of them. Someone coming from the dark with long strides, wearing Geta, most likely.

Taeko quickly wipes the faint tears from her eyes and slings forward from her seat. She tries to yell but only wheezes, "S...Stop!" She chokes once more and swallows deeply before actually yelling. The figure which steps closer looks like a young yet tall girl, hair tied up and not wielding her weapon but still clearly a shinigami. She approaches unwaveringly like would a stone golem on a predefined route. Yet, the figure would stop at her next words.

Her accent persists even in intense emotional turmoil. In fact, it sounds as deep as a man's due to the disruption in her usual flow, "'Ey, I know ya there! 'Ome ou' an' I migh' not knock ya ou'!"

* * *

 _ **With Taeko's quest having begun clearly, what will we see her do in the future? It's looking bleak for this girl, and there's only one person left who can help her attain her goal.**_

 _ **Next time on Nikushimi no Ya: Act 1 Chapter 6 - A Woman's Touch. Chiziwa has been an absent and new party so far, hasn't she? Why don't we study her a little more closely next?**_

 _ **P.S. If you're wondering why I stopped where I did, go back and read Chapter 5 of the prologue: The Peaceful. Or don't. That's fine too.**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	16. Act 1 CH6: A Woman's Touch

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 6:**

 **A WOMAN'S TOUCH**

"Next!" a girl yells from inside of the captain's quarters of the 13th Division. Most likely the lieutenant. There's a moderately long line of people spread across the white walls of the barracks, all new recruits waiting to be initiated and being confused as to why there's no grandeur to the event. Well, except for one: A short and flat, black-haired girl with a sharp and analytical look to her. The most eye-catching piece to her is not the five hair clips in her hair, but the old-looking headphones attached to some sort of box in her hand. The scathing but symphonic noise resonating from the headset catches the attention of everyone nearby, and especially of the taller girl next to her.

It's none other than Rieko Chiziwa, the lascivious blue-eyed blonde who those not distracted by the music look up at either with jealousy or amazement. This woman stares on at the small girl and tries gently tapping her shoulder with little more force than a falling leaf. Yet, she actually notices and is even slightly startled by the touch. She looks up shortly and immediately makes a bit of a sour face.

"Ugh, another one?" she whispers to herself. It's just audible enough for Rieko to hear, and makes her a mix of annoyed and confused. The stout girl lowers her headphones and the music stops. "Well?" she asks in a clearly aggravated tone.

Rieko, a little taken back by the tone has a slightly hard time actually saying anything, "Well— um...that's a bit loud, don't you think?" She suppresses a stutter but still looks meek.

"Problem?" the short one aggressively implores, with her expression not deviating from a bland stare.

Once again, Rieko loses her words. She ends up just murmuring vowels for several seconds, further annoying the little one. She eventually finds something to say, no matter how inappropriate it is, "What...were you listening to just now?"

Stunned by how socially awkward a woman with her appearance apparently is, the shorter girl calms down a little and briefly answers, "Just some music from the living world. You wouldn't get it." She ends up unintentionally sounding dismissive.

"From outside? That must have been hard to get." Rieko inquires further. She doesn't appear to want to let go of this topic.

Another brief answer from the shorter girl who now looks away, "I've got a few people."

Yet it has induced the opposite of the intended effect, and now Rieko is more interested, "Oh, where are you from?"

The short girl raises an eyebrow, "Uh, north eight?" and looks up at Rieko.

"So you just graduated?" she continues to prod.

"Yeah?" the other attempts to slowly slide her headphones back on. Another yell comes from the office ahead and the line moves up.

Rieko stops her and keeps trying, "Wait, that doesn't make sense..."

Before she elaborates, the short girls answers her upcoming question in an unsatisfying way, "I have my ways. Just leave it."

Of course Rieko doesn't want to, but she does anyways. She blocks another attempt for the girl to ignore her again and changes subject, "Oh, can I listen to it!?" She seems excited.

The shorter girl figures that it would be just a bit too cold to turn her down, so she just mumbles, "Alright..." and hands her the headphones.

Rieko puts them on, and waits for the music to start while sliding slowly down the wall. Soon, it starts up with a slow and peaceful guitar, followed by a duo that begin to speed up. It doesn't sound like anything she's ever heard before, and begins to increase in roughness as the seconds go by. Soon, the sounds start to distort while the vocals come in, speaking in a language she doesn't quite understand. Yet, she can feel that it's being spoken passionately and with an angrily somber tone. It drags on for what feels like an eternity, but is really only about 4 minutes and then keeps going, now sped up greatly.

Another yell from the quarters. She barely hears it and moves up, now standing and nearly transfixed on the progression that soon comes. The music becomes unbelievably energetic, almost so much that she impulsively teeters back and forth, wanting to pace and bob her head up and down. Another couple minutes pass, and it just keeps going. She's nearly jumping by now, but it suddenly ends. At least, she didn't see it coming. As suddenly as it ended, she stops moving and takes off the headphones.

"What was that!?" she nearly yells at the short girl who tugs on the wire. She continues independently, "It was like, the most intense thing I've ever heard! So _good!_ " She pumps her fist and jumps up a little with a huge and excited smile on her face.

The shorter girl is startled by her excitement, but also entertained, " _And Justice for All_ is what they call it. I think it was made only a few years ago. So you liked it?" She looks rather nonchalant but pleased.

"I _loved_ it!" Rieko blurts out vibrantly. She giggles a little while the smaller girl looks at her, smiling vaguely.

"NEXT!" another yell, the line moves up. Rieko notices she's next after this other person.

Thus, she acts quickly, "Oh, hey! What's your name?"

"Eh? Kaneko. Kumi Kaneko." she answers, now with her previous deadpan expression.

Meanwhile, Rieko looks thrilled, "Kaneko, right!" She bows, introducing herself in turn, "Rieko Chiziwa! Call me whatever you like."

Kumi bows to her as well, the close space making their heads bump together lightly to which Rieko giggles.

Kumi is less bubbly about it. She stays silent and reaches up, taking the headphones off and putting them back onto herself. With a nod, she goes back to her music and leaves an excited Rieko to be called on.

* * *

Just minutes later, she would be called in. The room is rather decorative, with many flowers being potted and put on display near the walls to liven the place up. They look to be blooming, reminding her that it's mid-spring. The sheer variety of them is quite distracting, with the array of colors they let off making the room look vibrantly tetrachromatic. It reminds her of the garden that the 13th Division is often famed for.

The trance the flowers have put her in is lifted by her name being called by the captain, "Rieko Chiziwa, is it?"

She snaps to attention quickly, but is too relaxed to remember proper mannerisms, "Ah, yeah!?" Her face would have paled from the realization of being improper if it were any other person, but Ukitake who sits at a messy paper-covered desk looks far too welcoming to worry about.

He smiles back at her, as she unwittingly does, "I'm sure you know how this all goes, so I'll just get to the chase and give you the ID."

She approaches as he slides over a form of some sort and an ID card. She takes the card, then does the usual "sign here" dance while being thoroughly distracted by flora. The captain notices quickly and asks, "You like them?"

Rieko nods, confident that they're on the same page. She slides the paper back over, and he sorts it into a stack on the ground. Ukitake continues, "To what degree?"

"I've always wanted a big field of flowers all to myself." Rieko answers, staring off and imagining the idea.

"That might be difficult," the captain acknowledges "but there are always places to start."

Rieko can feel that he's hinting at something, so she perks up and stares at him expectantly.

He gets to it immediately, while smiling, "How about you join us in tending to the garden?"

A man to his side with a weird haircut sighs, "I'm telling you, it's not going to work."

But almost as if to specifically disappoint this person, Rieko agrees immediately and with gusto, "Of course!" It then hits her a second later, "Wait..." She takes a look around, noticing that the flora is actually a bit excessive. "Ah, this was some elaborate plan, wasn't it?" she guesses.

Allowing her to finish the thought, the captain admits, "Maybe a little."

"I can't believe you actually got one." the supposed lieutenant preemptively says.

Still, she brushes that aside and assures them that she really does wish to. Then, in the next few moments she's ready to head back out with the parting phrase, "Try to make friends!" from Ukitake. She yells back, "Already did!"

And then the next person is called in: Kumi. They pass each other on the way out, but Rieko is kind and patient enough to wait on the opposing wall for her to finish. Given that she's a fresh graduate, it would probably take a bit longer. During this time, Rieko wonders about some minor details before eventually realizing that she forgot to ask why there was no ceremony as usual when there are a lot of new graduates.

Then she remembers hearing something about the captain being a bit sickly and figures that this is probably the cause. Surprisingly, she doesn't have much time for pondering as Kumi comes right back out only about ten minutes later. She expresses her surprise with a question, "Oh, that was quick. What all did you have to do?"

Kumi shrugs, not minding that the girl is tagging along with her. "Not much, I just tried to get it all done with quickly."

Rieko nods. They proceed to head on down the halls, each of the two trying to find their individual rooms. Turns out that the building is split by gender, with the girls' half being on the right wings. They find their rooms being rather close, with Kumi's being an inner room with an odd shape to it that's right next to the garden entrance. Rieko's is in an adjacent hallway and a few doors down, to the left side coming in. The latter nods to the former and they go in separately, mostly to just check out what's already in there. Not much, just a bed, table, and drawer in each one. Kumi's has a tiny window in the top left corner of the innermost wall, but she finds it to be a bother. Rieko's has no windows.

They walk back out almost immediately, neither really disappointed. They look at each other, minus the few people just walking by past their vision, then shrug. It seems that neither of them really have much to add, though Rieko has been carrying some sort of suitcase-like purse that now lies on the table in her room. Kumi has literally almost nothing but that one little cassette player in her hand, her Asauchi, and uniform. Rieko approaches her upon realizing this and inquires, "Uh, do you have any luggage?"

"Not really." she answers briefly.

Rieko looks concerned, "Really? I had a ton when I graduated. Well, I sold most of it, but still. Nothing at all?"

Kumi shakes her head, "No, just this Walkman, my 'Denreishinki' that they gave me, and what I have on."

Rieko can't help but feel sad for her. "Don't worry," she insists "we can get you some cool stuff!"

Kumi nods silently.

* * *

Suddenly, they hear some other bubbly girl yelling from not too far off, "Are those voices I've never heard before!?"

The two turn to the noise, originating from the room across the hallway from Rieko's new room. They witness another short girl not even 5 feet off the ground but with a rack the same size as Rieko's comes bursting through the doorway and nearly trips over herself. The most prominent feature of hers is two long twintails and the mob cap between them. Almost immediately, Rieko is stunned by the sight. She approaches the girl who's yelling, "Hey, who are you guys!?"

Slowly, Rieko crouches down to eye level as the height difference is much over a foot. She whispers, "Oh my god, this might be the cutest thing I've ever seen." while staring directly at her. The little one backs off uncomfortably and waves her hand, "Is...there something on my face?"

Meanwhile, Kumi is staring vacantly into space while her music blasts so loudly that the other two can hear it from several paces away. Rieko nods and slowly answers the busty, small one, "Rieko Chiziwa. And you?" She keeps her mouth covered with one hand to hide her obscenely wide smile.

The small one skips back a little before answering, "Oh, Kokoro!"

"Kokoro...?" Rieko trails off, trying to get a last name.

She has to think a bit. Not a short bit, a long one. 64 bit. Eventually, she remembers, "Right! Tsukuda!" She looks chipper still, despite being freaked out by Rieko's closeness.

"So you're my neighbor, then?" Rieko asks, quietly.

"Are you?" Kokoro wonders.

"Am I?" Rieko takes her hand off to reveal her smile.

Kokoro realizes she's kidding around, and so she chuckles. Rieko is entranced by her cuteness and has to be pulled away by Kumi who scolds her, "Hey, quit being creepy. Don't we have a job to do?"

Rieko retorts immediately, "Do we? All I need to do is go make friends and wait for a call. Maybe tend to the garden, too."

Kumi grumbles, "Well he told me to get a training partner and join with the other recruits an hour from now. I think you'll do fine for that."

"But that's an hour away!" Rieko complains.

"Training?" Kokoro inquires from behind. The other two turn around toward her, and Kumi nods. She happily offers, "Oh, how about I help?"

Rieko crouches down and smiles back at her, "Of course!" She puts both hands on her cheeks and squishes them together.

"Creep." Kumi taunts her.

Rieko glares at her, "No I'm not!"

Kumi waits for her to turn back around and then repeats, "Creep."

"I'll hit you!" Rieko threatens playfully.

"We'll be doing that eventually." Kumi snarks.

Kokoro, meanwhile, is silently being face-groped and can't get a word in. She doesn't really mind, but has to break free eventually to make a call. Rieko just stands by and watches.

Kokoro turns around while she talks on it, "Oii, oii! Heidi, I think we've got some new friends!"

Rieko looks excited again, mostly at how friendly Kokoro is coupled with her cute factor.

A moment later she whispers, "They're weird!"

Suddenly Rieko can't help but feel a little bullied. Kumi isn't listening.

Kokoro nods a few more times, "Yeah, come down in a few hours! ...After training times."

She continues her conversation, trailing off while Kumi pokes at Rieko's back. "Hey, why don't you technically have to do this thing?" she asks with a hint of annoyance.

Rieko turns around, not sure how to answer, "Huh? I think it's just something that first year recruits have to do. " She doesn't really register the annoyed tone.

Kumi sighs heavily, "What a pain in my ass..." and turns around, heading into her room while tossing the volume up so far that the other two can easily hear it. As a passing word, she reminds them, "Come get me when I need to go."

Rieko raises an eyebrow, not sure what to think of her attitude. Kokoro hasn't noticed. The two are alone in the hallway now, and given that the former is still talking, Rieko feels slightly bored and ignored. She sits down against the wall and just waits while staring up at the ceiling and thinking.

Kokoro would get off the phone soon enough and drag Rieko along with her and Kumi to the sparring yard. They very quickly learned that the latter is particularly lethargic and bad at fighting in every sense of the word, getting her ass easily kicked by both parties without them breaking a sweat.

"You're not even trying, are you?" Rieko had asked afterwards, with the only response she got being a groan. She doesn't really have the body to participate in battle. It's too lanky, to thin. Meanwhile, Rieko's is so surprisingly strong that both others underestimated her and got repeatedly kicked in the face. They certainly didn't expect her to immediately toss her training sword aside and use close combat only. Kumi even cracked a joke about her being Kenshiro's wife, which earned her a swat on the head and a disgusted look.

And then they met the Masamunes not too long after that ended and everyone was given free reign over the rest of their day. Kumi immediately had her eyes on the giant Jinpachi, who gave her a friendly wave back. Rieko on the other hand was busy looking Heidi up and down, feeling a sudden and overwhelming emotion that she has never quite felt before. Some sort of mix between awe, jealousy, and attraction. She's an aesthetic challenge for the girl, who had always prided herself on beauty as seen in her appearance. Yet, this challenging match in attractiveness also compelled her to be friendly to her as a sort of inherent camaraderie. They would give each other deathly stares at first, but the tension subsided soon and they got to talking. Not too similar in terms of interest or personality, but close enough to hold a conversation.

She then made the mistake of saying to herself a bit too loudly, "Why am I being surrounded by huge breasts? Is this some sort of test?" which earned her two odd looks and a chuckle from Jinpachi who is still being eyeballed by Kumi in a particularly uncomfortable manner. They did not speak at all, both being the silent type.

The two giants have to leave to attend to some work, leaving the others suddenly bored and alone together. Kokoro had then suggested to everyone, "Hey, let's all go and eat somewhere! That should be fun!"

Her usual chipper and cute mannerisms charm Rieko into gladly agreeing, but Kumi simply shuffles back into her room and yells, "I'll pass!" back at them. Kokoro is left looking disappointed, and Rieko fails to resist giving her a hug.

She freaks out a little, "Hey, wait! What're you doing!?"

Rieko apologizes but is still going slightly berserk with affection, "I'm sorry, but you're just too cute!" Given the height difference, she has to crouch down. Her grip is also far too tight and makes it slightly hard to breathe or get out of it. It seems she notices this and so lets go.

"That's too much!" Kokoro wheezes, still recovering from being squeezed to death.

Rieko waits for her to recover some more before standing back up, "So, eating? Where?"

After clearing her throat and brushing her uniform off, she answers, "There's a pub near here that I like, let's go there!"

"Eh?" is the response she gets. "Eh? A pub?"

Kokoro nods, "Yeah! British food. You know that not everyone or everything here are Japanese, right?"

Rieko nods frantically, trying to save face, "Oh, yeah! I know that, but I've never really payed much attention to it." She throws both hands behind her head.

"How?" Kokoro wonders aloud "There are lots of other types of people even here. I mean, Heidi's a _fucking viking!_ "

Rieko nearly chokes on trying to stifle a laugh and fails miserably. She breaks out in a quiet giggle that evolves into hysterics as she repeats, "A fucking viking!" a few times. It looks like she's about to collapse from laughing too hard. "Oh gods, that's too cute!" she yells, sounding like a madwoman in the process and making a few people poke out from their rooms to see what's going on.

Kokoro is more than a little freaked out and wide-eyed, but smiles nonetheless. She tries to prod in, "Uh, Chiziwa?"

She stops laughing after a minute, then turns to Kokoro and apologizes again, "Sorry, sorry. That was just so cute! Ah, and you can call me by my first name."

Kokoro nods, not knowing what to think and just going with the waves. She starts walking towards the exit while dragging Rieko along. The trip is quiet.

* * *

Upon arrival not more than a few minutes after that, Rieko comments, "So I forget, what nationality is this again?"

"British." Kokoro briefly answers. They make their way inside and find the place to be pretty desolate. Quiet. Still rather bright, but with a woodier atmosphere, one that is completely alien to Rieko who finds herself merely following Kokoro around. There are only a few shinigami here, mostly huddled around the bar area and having idle banter with hearty laughter while two others sit by themselves at opposite ends of the tiny pub.

The architecture of the place doesn't resemble the rest of the city at all, so it sticks out like a sore thumb and was easy to find even while Rieko had no idea what it looked like. The two sit at a corner table where they have some privacy where Kokoro asks, "You drink?"

Rieko nods, "Doesn't everyone? It's pretty great for getting people to talk too."

Kokoro somehow feels the need to laugh uncontrollably at that. She calms down after several continuous seconds, "Yeah, that's it!" She laughs again. Rieko doesn't quite know how to respond.

Kokoro gets up and walks over to the bar area, signalling that she'll be back in a moment. And she does come back, several minutes later. After chatting up the people around there and being particularly loud about it. She comes back with two large glass mugs in hand with some sort of brownish yellow substance in them.

"The fuck?" Rieko wonders aloud "It looks like decade-old Sake."

Kokoro flicks her head lightly, earning no response, "Just try it!" She hops backwards again and goes back, coming back another minute later with a plate covered in Chips.

However, Rieko has never seen a chip before. She picks one up, recoiling at the heat and immediately sticking the burnt finger into her mouth. Kokoro giggles, "Come on, they're not that ho—" She makes the same mistake and realizes that they must have been quite fresh. She does the same thing, but looks away bashfully.

Rieko smiles at her with a look of pity. She wipes that away before Kokoro can look back. "So any real reason you brought me here?"

Kokoro shrugs, "I didn't really think that through." She takes a rather deep drink.

Rieko sighs and says in worried tone, "Cute girls like you shouldn't drink so much. It's not very feminine."

Kokoro raises both eyebrows. "Eh? I don't care about that." she admits with a chuckle.

"What is this, anyways?" Rieko points at the glass of alcohol.

Kokoro is too busy chugging hers to answers. A few people look over and laugh at the sight. Rieko surmises that this is probably a common sight. Eventually, she can take no more and slams the mug down, along with her face onto the table.

"Uh, Kokoro?" Rieko goes to poke her on the head. She peeks up and remembers, "Oh. It's called cider. Like, apple juice but better."

Rieko nods, "Okay. Never had apple juice before th—"

"WHAT!?" Kokoro nearly screams "Never had a— WHAT!? How!?" Now legit screaming.

Rieko throws her hands up, "C-Calm down! I'll drink it, I swear!" A little freaked out at this point.

Kokoro sits back down quietly. More laughs from the distance. Rieko does as she said and sips from it, then finding it to not be too bad. She nods along, then comments, "Alright, it's fine."

Kokoro smiles at her, satisfied. A few minutes of small talk about the day and silence pass over, and she finally starts nibbling on the chips. Quickly. Half of them are gone fairly quickly. It's very aggressive nibbling.

Rieko pulls the same act with these as well. "And what the hell is this?" she picks one up and asks.

"Chip."

"I get that, but what _are they?_ "

Kokoro rolls her head with one in her mouth and leans forward, shoving one into her mouth quickly and forcibly.

There's no time to complain, she simply goes with it and finds herself pleasantly surprised, "Oh, not bad either."

Kokoro smiles, this last one seeming to fill her. She chugs the last of her mug while Rieko has barely touched hers. She stands up and takes it back over, has it refilled, and walks back. Doesn't seem to be staggering much. Rieko sighs.

Within seconds, Kokoro starts another topic, "I really like this place. Everyone's nice and relaxed here. It's quiet. Not the bad type like in the barracks where you're bored and on edge, the good kind that just makes you want to fall asleep next to a fire. With a piano in the background."

"Well, it is pretty warm in here," Rieko agrees "and I can see where you get that. It can be really tiring staying in a single building all day. It has such a different atmosphere there. It's all kind of same-y and...imperialist."

Kokoro tilts her head, "Imperialist?"

"Uniform," Rieko begins clarifying "like business. Like it's always serious and you're always tense. Have you noticed that every room looks the same? And has the same things at first. And if you're the unlucky type who gets tossed around places a lot, you can't get a lot of things to personalize it. It doesn't feel like we really own anything, just borrowing it."

Kokoro stares onwards at her, not sure what to say but, "Yeah, that sounds right. I haven't really customized my room much because I'm afraid they'll move me again. It happened once when some more important people moved in."

"I like to decorate it." Rieko comments. It peaks Kokoro's curiosity, so she continues without signal to, "I like to make things pretty. Bonsai is pretty. I used to own a few, but some cold-hearted person came and destroyed them when I was away. They did that to a lot of my stuff. I had to tear everything down and start over."

Kokoro's sense of justice kicks in, "How could anyone do that!? You're such a nice person!"

Rieko throws her hands up again, "W-Well, I don't know about that! I can be a little cold at times. Besides, you've only known me for a few hours!"

"But I know! I can feel it!" Kokoro bends over the table to yell.

"O-Okay, that's my ear. Ow." Rieko complains, stuttering from intimidation.

Kokoro calms down but is still upset, "But how could they?"

Rieko sighs, seeming to not want to go into much detail, "I did something that I shouldn't have. People found out, and a few got nasty." She turns her head to the side, avoiding eye contact.

Kokoro stares at her, then down. She stays like that for a moment and soon takes another long chug of her drink. "Did you get all of that back?" she quietly asks.

"No." Rieko shakes her head "And I didn't really want to. One of my neighbors caught the people involved and told the captain, but I told them I didn't care about being compensated. Coincidentally, I also told them I wanted to leave, so it didn't really matter. Not a lot of people saw me out. Just avoided people after that."

She leans backwards and looks up at the ceiling, "Every cute girl has an ugly side. Even you and I. That's just how people are."

Another audible drink in, Kokoro says, "You're gonna make me sad like that. But what did you do?"

"I can't tell you that." she very immediately replies. She falls quiet.

Kokoro takes several scoots towards her, purely for the act of giving her a consolidating hug. Rieko seems surprised, but doesn't fight it. She just doesn't react. A few more seconds than necessary pass before she lets go and scoots back in place, taking another drink. And then another. And another until it's all gone.

"You must be getting full, surely." Rieko comments on her beverage-based gluttony.

Kokoro shrugs. Rieko smirks and teases her, "I bet all the fat goes to your chest, huh?" She chuckles, but Kokoro doesn't. Instead, she just glares at her with a particularly offended scowl. Actually, it almost looks like she's about to have an outburst.

Before that can happen, Rieko apologizes, "Oh, I'm sorry! I just— I've met so many girls with big ones and they were all cool with jokes like that! I—"

She gets cut off by Kokoro, "It's not like I enjoy having these. It's a huge hassle no matter what! It's not normal!"

Rieko slightly panics, hands up once more and completely stunned-silent. Simply stares at her companion who glares back at her but slowly transitions into a more calmed frown. Without another word, she gets back up with the mug and goes to get another refill. Feeling slightly guilty now, Rieko also takes a drink.

* * *

Another hour passes with them back to square one and making small talk. The tense atmosphere allows them to both ingest much more than they probably should, and Rieko gets her first refill while Kokoro loses track and eats the rest of the chips. It doesn't take long for the former to notice the problem.

"You're the type who eats and drinks when they're down, aren't you?" Rieko guesses.

Kokoro says nothing but looks up at Rieko with a defeated expression, signalling that it was correct but that she doesn't like to admit it.

"Hey, don't get down like that..." Rieko tries to console her.

Kokoro just groans and whines.

"Is it what I said?" she honestly asks.

Kokoro shakes her head.

"Is it the cider?"

Another shake, but less sure of it.

"Are you secretly really lonely and don't have anyone to talk to about it?"

A less sure shake than even before.

"Is your life a living sham and you can't stand it so you're drinking your brain out?"

Kokoro lifts her head up for a second, "What's up with these questions?"

Rieko chuckles, "Oh, just a little joke. Not really, but you know."

Kokoro becomes confused.

"You know? Like, I say something ridiculous and say it's a joke and it kind of is but kind of isn't?"

Kokoro is still confused.

"And then it actually leads somewhere and we end up exchanging secrets for literally no reason just because we don't know how to handle the logic behind the questions?"

Kokoro hurts herself in her confusion.

"That's not good for your health." Rieko scolds.

Kokoro snaps out of her confusion.

The two fall a little quiet. Rieko quickly follows this up with a general question, "So what were your social experiences like? You seem pretty upbeat, like the butterfly type."

Kokoro sits back up and shows one finger, then gets up and orders yet another refill. Sitting back down and sipping, she clears her throat and starts, "Well, not really. Heidi and Jinpachi were my only real friends for a while after I came here. There was also this girl named Rukia, but it was pretty brief." She sips again, then sighs, "Everyone likes how I'm happy all of the time, but they don't really care. It's just a convenience. Sometimes I wonder why I still do it even though it's not really doing anything but then I remember that if I stop that bad things might happen and I'll just end up hurting everyone because..."

Rieko realizes where this is going and stops her, "Wait, no need for that. Just...good things. What are the good things that have happened to you?"

Kokoro leans on the table, one hand on her chin and cheek in thought. "It was a long time ago. Years." she begins "Before I entered even the academy, I had a pretty hard time trying out. Every time I thought I had gotten better, I had just gotten a little worse in one other area. Kept failing by a little bit, sometimes a lot. I was trying for so long that I can't even remember, but then someone came along. Yumiko. Yumiko Nishimura-koken. I'm sure you've heard of her."

"Nope." Rieko immediately responds.

Kokoro is dumbfounded enough to take a chug before continuing, "Oh, come on! She's practically a local celebrity where I'm from!" Rieko tries to cut her short, but fails. "So anyways, she comes along wanting to get in and happens to be using the same facility as I am! Everyone there was a little psyched, but I was her biggest fan! There's no way it could have gone any way other than well, and I was right. That was the day I got in, and I made sure to make friends with her while I was at it." She's getting a bit more excited now.

"Meeting idols usually doesn't go well." Rieko comments.

"But this time it did!" Kokoro contradicts her, "She was even better than I thought. Not a cold-blooded vigilante like everyone said; she was actually really cool and nice!" She pauses for a moment. "Kind of apathetic, actually. Didn't care when bad things happened." She thinks for a second, but continues regardless, "Well, we got a room together, and it made me really happy! I got to spend our entire stay there with her, and by the end we were best friends. A lot of crazy stuff happened, but it was actually kind of boring. At least with her there I could stand it."

Rieko is stuck thinking back on her own days there, and remember quite fondly, "Yes, I remember then. I didn't really get along very well with the people there."

Kokoro stutters, looking on in pity, "W-Well, that's just fine! You got a long time to do just that!" She continues more, "But anyways, I remember that she would always be the one soaking up punishment like a sponge. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she had a sixth sense for when I was in danger and would just be there no matter what! A lot of people bullied me because of these...things..." she looks down at her chest frustratedly "...but Yumiko taught them not to fuck with us!"

Rieko nearly spits out her drink the moment she hears "fuck". She whispers to herself, "So cute..."

"But..." Kokoro suddenly becomes sad "...well, that all changed when we graduated. You see, she forgot to fill out the division assignment forms, so she just got a random one based on performance and behavior. I got 13, and she got 11. We...haven't met since." On that last word, the tone of her voice cracks and takes an instant nosedive.

Rieko quickly catches this and speaks up, "Well, wait, shouldn't you have her contact info?"

Kokoro shakes her head, "Well, about that..." she takes out her Denreishinki and slides it across. It looks practically brand new. "My old one that had her info got destroyed during a mission. I had to get it replaced, and I lost...basically everything. I had _everything_ on it. All of my old friends, all of the pictures I took, all of the messages, all..." With each item she gets quickly closer crying, on the last one her eyes are visibly wetting. Yet, she holds it back, "I...haven't had the strength to try and find her ever since then. I tried to find her in the registry, but there were so many people, and I just don't know how to use it. It's...intimidating. I mean, I eventually found out how to see all the people in the 11th Division, but she wasn't there. I don't know how that could happen— how could someone just disappear!?"

Rieko desperately attempts to find something to say, but fails miserably.

"I..." Kokoro starts to cry this time "...I just hope she isn't..."

Rieko quickly makes her way over to the other side of the booth and grabs ahold of the frail girl, hugging her tightly, "Don't. I'm sure she's here somewhere, we just need to look harder. We'll help you! I bet that Kaneko girl is good with computers! Just don't go and cry." She tries hard, and is feeling guiltier by the second.

It doesn't help that everyone's staring. Kokoro can't even speak anymore, she's just blubbering something incoherent and quiet. One guy from the bar shouts at Rieko, "She gets like this a lot, just take her back home!"

It seems there's no negotiating with someone who can't manage their emotions right now, so Rieko leads her up and helps her waddle back to the barracks while the others give their waves and best wishes. She leaves thinking better of them.

* * *

On the way back from the "Pub of Tears" as she is now calling it, Rieko tries to offer sentiment, "Well, hey, this Yumiko girl sounds pretty great. I think I want to meet someone who could make you feel so nostalgic."

Kokoro sniffles, "Yeah...she's cool. I know she'll come back, I know it!" She jerks around a little, but ultimately is too fatigued from that breakdown that she can barely walk still.

Rieko nods and holds her tightly. Then she remembers, "Oh, you paid that tab, right?"

Kokoro nods, "I forgot to do that the first few times. Now I just pay as I go..."

Rieko can tell she's not really drunk, just a bit of a mess. She admits to her, "Well, I didn't think you'd open up that much at our first meeting."

Kokoro chuckles fondly, "Sorry, that happens sometimes..."

"Don't apologize." Rieko says "If anything, it was a strong first impression. You're more interesting than the average girl, you know? I like people who can just be honest for once."

"Oh, I'm just average..." Kokoro denies her "...everyone's like me. They have their own lives, it's just that you have to look hard. Everybody's a mess. I know that even someone like Yumiko had...problems. She's the strongest person I know. Much more than I am."

Rieko groans, "That self-loathing isn't good, you know. It's just going to make you feel worse. Have a little confidence or I'll shove it down your throat!"

Kokoro seems to have been amused by that joke. Rieko smiles, satisfied with that. "Hey," Kokoro prods "I'm lazy; carry me."

"Eh? I can't carry you!" Rieko complains loudly.

Kokoro whines, "But you're strong!"

"I am not!"

"But you kicked my ass in training!"

"That's a different kind of strong!"

Kokoro continues to whine. "Come oooon! It's been a long day; I'm tired!"

"Ugh!" Rieko grunts "Fine."

Kokoro squeals cutely in excitement, making Rieko hurry her along while crouching. Kokoro crawls on her back and holds on tightly. Rieko sighs and starts moving while talking, "So do those two giants do this for you?"

Kokoro hums affirmatively. Rieko nods, then stops talking to let the poor thing rest. She rests quite well.

Soon enough, they're back at her room. Only a few people saw and didn't really bat an eye, so she judges this as a common sight. These people are weird. Then again, everything is at least a little weird around here.

As they get into her room, Rieko complains loudly, "Ah, finally! You don't know how heavy you are, do you?"

No response. She assumes the girl must be sleeping by now. Rather quick, honestly. She backs up towards the bed and tries to not slam her down on it. It succeeds a little, but sound like it should have failed. Kokoro groans upon hitting the bed. Rieko is kind enough to at least tuck her in while sitting and resting her entire body which is now aching from the neck down.

"It's the middle of the day, too..." she sighs, just a bit disappointed. Despite that, she is also feeling a little beat from the previous couple of experiences. Also feeling a little tipsy, with that kind of minor headache. She looks back at the girl she just laid to sleep.

That person who had just been pouring her heart out to what amounts to a complete stranger just about 15 minutes ago was now sound asleep right next to the same person, blissfully unaware of everything around her and allowed to enjoy the respite of dreams. As much as they would offer it. For all Rieko knows, she could just experience it as a flash of black like everyone else. She looks and acts sweet, but Rieko can tell she has a sour core just from the hints of life philosophy she let out. To drown in one's sorrows, dealing with failure by bottling it up would easily defeat most people. She must be strong willed, must have such a tenacity that it would flatter the people she admires. But at the same time, she's so much of a pushover that it's pitiful. An intimidating one, but one nonetheless. The very type one would be able to exploit.

She edges a little closer, petting her on the head with a calm and pitying expression; staring. Her gaze depresses downwards, and she lets her hand graze off. Then she remembers how Kokoro had gotten offended at the boob joke and starts to wonder what it was about. She's asleep, right? It couldn't hurt, right?

With a nervous gulp and a blush of the thought, Rieko staggers forward and contemplates this quietly. "Gods, please forgive me for this outrageous act of stupidity..." she begs, lifting the blanket up slightly and exploring around with her hand. Her entire body starts to shake rather violently with sheer nervousness. In fact, she's basically just nervously grabbing around until she hits something really soft. Reaches around, quickly finding the uniform's edge and pulling it down. One giant mammary is visible to her, and it nearly drives her over the edge completely. The tremors become much worse, she has to stabilize herself by grabbing onto the bed and closing both eyes before continuing. She starts to very slowly and gently prod at it, then grab, and then caress. Feeling her up, she notices something a bit off. Can't quite put her finger on what, but just something. The sudden mystery makes her forget her nervousness and replace it with concern. But maybe that's just another level of nervousness that is completely alien.

But she doesn't appear to be satiated with just this. Instead of playing it safe and simply acting like nothing happened, she is overwhelmed by desire enough to choke on it and go all in. She pulls the blanket down further to get a better look, shedding the upper right quarter of her own uniform as well. She starts to fondle herself while doing the same to this girl's body, leaning down and getting quite close to it. She kisses the tip, making her shudder and turn red. Kokoro squirms around a little, which frightens Rieko so much that she freezes in place for a second. A false alarm. Without a moment of reconsideration, she does it again, and several more times until reason has completely exited the room.

Finally, what she was waiting to do since she saw the excessively cute girl's face. She leans down further pressing their chests together and rubbing them slightly. Then she presses her cheek up against Kokoro's and rubs them together. "Fuck...this is crazy." she scolds herself, but doesn't stop. Slowly, she inches to the side and plants a light kiss on her lips. Nothing too harsh, just a peck. Not enough, apparently. She desperately loses herself and locks lips, that being quite enough to snap Kokoro back into awakeness.

Alarmed, she starts struggling and pushing at Rieko who only notices after a few seconds and promptly lets go, backing up with haste and falling off the bed. Kokoro sits up, stupefied at what just happened. "Chiziwa...?" she whimpers, not making her feel much better about it.

Meanwhile, Rieko is completely and utterly frozen in fear, her blush being replaced entirely by paling and a freezing sensation. Trembling, she desperately attempts to apologize by prostrating on the floor and gasping it at her.

Kokoro looks down, only now realizing that her breasts are out. She quickly covers up and doesn't speak otherwise, just looks completely baffled. She leans forward at the prostrator and whispers, "What...was that?"

No words can come out of Rieko's mouth. Instead, Kokoro is left for a minute to figure things out. She does quicker than expected, and decides to let out mercy. She slowly inches onto the floor and picks Rieko up out of her pose while reassuring her, "It's okay, I'm not angry. I know how you feel."

Suddenly overcome with relief, Rieko hugs Kokoro _very_ tightly. "You...are you like that too?"

Obviously still uncomfortable to a degree, she pushes the hug away slowly and responds, "At least...halfway. You must be really desperate to do something like that."

Rieko nods, again apologizing, "I'm just too stupid to take it, I know... Just got here and I already can't control myself."

Kokoro sighs, looking her in the eyes directly, "Don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone, just don't do it again."

Rieko nods frantically, "I know, I know. How are you so much better than me?"

As she starts to cry of remorse, Kokoro interrupts, "Weren't you the one who told me not to self-loathe just a while ago?"

Rieko realizes the truth in this and thinks about it, "Right. You're right. It's...just a crush and a little frustration. I'll get over it."

Kokoro smiles, "Right! You just have needs, like me. Like everyone else. I know you're not bad, so don't cry about it."

Rieko retorts immediately, "But I did—!"

Kokoro then kisses her suddenly and punctually. No thought to it, just an action for a reaction. Rieko is shocked. So much that she doesn't know how to respond. "That's what you wanted, right?"

Once again, speechless. All except for a few stutters. Kokoro continues to barrage her with kindness, "If you ever need to get it out of your system, I'm here for you."

Now joy is the overwhelming feeling. Rieko is nearly about to cry for being so lucky to find someone like her. She nearly pounces on her while repeating "thank you" over and over with increasing intensity. Under her breath, Kokoro whispers, "As long as it'll help someone."

Rieko is probably thinking something along the lines of, "You're an angel!" right now. There's no telling since she's such a mess. But after then being booted out of the room so the little one can have her rest in peace, the two reassure each other with an exiting statement that they'll be best friends for sure. Rieko walks out a new person, positive that she was just saved from a lifetime more of misery. Of course, Rieko got over her crush even though she never did get over the guilt of having tried to molest a friend, but ended up mostly a better person for it.

And Kumi Kaneko heard the whole thing because she was spying on them. To this day, nobody knows what she really does.

* * *

 _ **Well that just happened. There's definitely more trauma and hurt/comfort where that came from, so stay tuned for 120% suffering.**_

 _ **Next time on Nikushimi no Ya: Act 1, Chapter 7 - Dead Men Don't Cry. Finally kicking off the plot, we have the beginning of the canon series! See you next month.**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	17. Act 1 CH7: Dead Men Don't Cry

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 7:**

 **DEAD MEN DON'T CRY**

Yumiko walks into the beautified quarters of the captain Ukitake who seems to be stressed out if the sloppy posture is any indication. She stands firmly in front of his desk with both hands behind her back and legs parted slightly. Waiting to see if he notices, she speaks up just loud enough for him to hear but not enough to be seen as yelling, "4th seat officer Yumiko Nishimura-koken here. Captain, you wanted to see me?"

He slowly perks his head up, looking dead tired. "Oh, Nishimura. Take a seat if you will."

She lets her own posture go to make things a little less tense, then sits down silently. Ukitake scoots up and sifts through the papers on his desk until he finds a particular report of some sort. "Here we are..." he begins "...It seems that one of our soldiers has gone missing on assignment. Rukia Kuchiki. You know her?"

"Barely," Yumiko answers "we trained a few times when I couldn't find anything else. Not much else to say. She was never in any of my units."

Ukitake groans exasperatedly, "It's good enough. Look, you're probably one of my most experienced officers if the rumors are true. I know what your personal unit is capable of, so I want you to go into the world of the living and find her. Bring her back nice and quietly. We don't need to make a fuss out of this and I would rather not have to tell captain Kuchiki about this if possible."

Yumiko meditates on this, but one detail catches her off-guard, "Wait, _captain_ Kuchiki? You mean she has high-ranking family in here?"

Ukitake nods, "He's her brother. It's not really a secret. But wait, did you never notice her surname?"

Yumiko shakes her head, "Are they some sort of noble family? I don't get mixed up in politics like that."

Ukitake nod at her slowly, "That's that, then. Anyways, this is your assignment: Form a unit for a search and rescue of Rukia Kuchiki that is to be concluded before the end of the week. I trust you to choose the correct people for your unit, so I'll allow that freedom."

He hands over an envelope with the pre-written assignment within it. She takes it and stuffs it in a pocket, "Thank you, captain."

He dismisses her with one last thing, "And watch out, Karakura Town is dangerous. A hotbed for hollows. Bring your best equipment."

Yumiko hums at him, "Right. We will be done within the next couple of days if all goes well."

Ukitake says nothing, just slumps back over in his chair. Yumiko glances back at him and thinks to herself, _"You really need a break..."_

Still tired, Yumiko decides to go and contact everyone necessary for the mission, tell them to be ready by tomorrow evening, and then go to bed for once. Her first choice is the Masamunes.

Remembering that they left somewhere presumably unimportant, she picks out her Denreishinki and dials them up real quick. A few rings, and a few more. It almost seems like it won't pick up, but it does. She hears an annoyed voice on the other end that definitely sounds like Heidi, "Hey, what's the big idea!?"

"We have an assignment," Yumiko bluntly states "get yourselves ready by tomorrow at 1900 hours. Bring additional equipment if you can."

Before they can answer, she hangs up to prevent an argument. She then leans against the wall and starts dialing other numbers. First is Kumi, who upon picking up the phone and hearing Yumiko's voice immediately says, "No." She hangs up, but Yumiko dials it again. Won't pick up.

"Fine." she relents temporarily, instead calling Kokoro. She picks up within the first ring, "Yumi〜!" which causes a huge smile to stretch across her face unstoppably. Yumiko responds, "Hey, glad you're still up. We've got an assignment. I know you don't like to go out like that, but I need all the help I can get, apparently."

Without hesitation, Kokoro agrees, "Of course I'll go with you! After all—"

Yumiko interrupts her, "That's great, be ready by tomorrow at 1900 hours. Bye."

"Eh?" Kokoro confusedly yells at her, just before Yumiko hangs up.

"That was close..." she sighs, then goes through the other numbers while trying to think of who could help out the most. She runs past a couple of her old disciples: the Maresukes. Can't call both at once, so she calls the more hot-headed Sasuke. The phone rings several times, almost as if nobody is about to pick up. Then he does.

"Nishimura-koken?" he asks with a surprised tone.

Yumiko nods, but remembers that she's on the phone a second later and quickly responds with embarrassment, "Oh, yes. Sorry, I nodded. I'm used to talking to people face-to-face."

"Ahh," he says "so what makes you call us?"

"I have a mission to go on privately, and I need to bring a powerful unit with me. Would you come along?"

He inquires further, "And what would this mission be? Kurokawa and I would love to, but I wonder what it is."

"Search and rescue." she briefs them. "It's apparently in a really dangerous place. Also, don't bring Kurokawa. There are six to a unit and I have someone else I want to bring. Besides, you have the most solo potential of the two of you."

He is reluctant, "Well, it has been a while, but I don't feel comfortable leaving Kurokawa here."

Yumiko sighs, "I can get someone else if that's too much."

He insists out of courtesy, suddenly, "No, it's fine. Not like it'll take a long time. I'll go."

Yumiko hums, "Hm, then it's settled. I'll put you on the report. Show up tomorrow at 1900 hours and ready."

He confirms, "It will be done." and hangs up.

Then, she starts counting on her fingers the people she's bringing, "Let's see... The Masamunes is two, Kokoro is three, Sasuke is four, I'm five...Chiziwa is six."

She nods to herself and starts walking back to her room while ringing her up. Then she hears that woman's phone ringing across the hallway as she closes in on the door. Turns the corner, and down the hallway is surely Chiziwa waiting by her room, about to answer the phone. Yumiko walks forth, holding up her denreishinki in plain sight while calling to her, "Oii, Chiziwa."

Chiziwa turns around, looking surprised but sounding pleased, "Oh, Yumiko! You know you can use my first name, right?"

They let the ringing time out, meanwhile engaging in conversation. Yumiko starts, "Yeah, but anyways, I have a mission tomorrow. Wanted you to come along. I've already got everyone except you and Kaneko. I'm just going to give up on recruiting her."

"Good idea, she's impossible to persuade."Chiziwa agrees with a subtle disappointment in her tone.

"Basically. So I'm assuming you were waiting for me..." Yumiko continues, trailing off.

Chiziwa takes a second to pick up on that queue, "Oh! Yes, actually. I kind of forgot why, though." She crosses her arms behind her back and smiles in embarassment.

Yumiko hums at her skeptically. "Right," she says "so are you coming?"

"Right to the point..." Chiziwa says to herself, then answers "...But sure, I can go. Nothing else to do."

Yumiko gives her a thumbs-up, "Good. One more person to go, then I'm off to take a nap. Tell the others not to disturb me. Be ready by 1900 hours tomorrow."

"I'm never going to get used to that." Chiziwa reminds her.

"About sunset." she simplifies.

Chiziwa claps and nods, then pivots and takes her leave. Yumiko turns the opposite direction and leaves as well. Once she can no longer hear footsteps, Chiziwa stops in the middle of the hallway and looks up, staring blankly into the air. She sighs disappointedly, staying like that for some time.

Next, Yumiko decides to approach Kakunaka, still residing in the same camp in the sewer system that they had originally met. Getting there is still an effort in maze-walking, but she has mostly memorized the layout of the path there, plus a few surrounding areas. When she arrives, she finds the girl lying on her bedroll, looking to be asleep. She approaches and enters the light, then whispers to her, "Hey! Kakunaka!"

"I 'eard ya comin'." she slurs in her tired state, giving Yumiko a wave as she sits up. "'Sup?"

Yumiko takes a seat on the ground beside her and explains, "Hey, I've finally got you a ticket out of here. A mission coming up tomorrow that I'm leading. I know a way to sneak you through the barrier."

"Fin'lly puttin' th'plan into motion, eh?" she responds.

Yumiko nods, "It's great, right?"

Kakunaka gives her a smile in response. She leans towards Yumiko and asks for details.

"It's actually pretty simple..." she begins while slowly waving her hands around "I learned about this one Bakudo that is capable of causing an illusion of invisibility." She holds her hands out in front, "The only problem is that it can't be used on yourself and is a bit difficult." Then points at both of them and clasps her hands together, "If we combine that with the one you have which can mask your presence, I can simply hold up the illusion while you hide yourself, and we can just walk right through the front door together." She points outward and claps, "So what do you think?"

Kakunaka gives a thumbs up, "Wha'bout a backup?"

Yumiko easily explains that, "I had an identity forged for you. Well, not me, but one of my trusted allies."

"I don't trust it." Kakunaka objects.

"So plan A?"

Kakunaka nods, "When's it?"

"1900 hours, tomorrow. I need you to meet me at 1930 at the grating in the barrack's gardens. Beneath it. We'll put the cloak up there and move quickly. We may have to hold it up for half an hour at most."

Kakunaka makes a sour face, but just accepts it, "Good's we'll get, I guess."

Yumiko stands and nods affirmatively at her, "Can't stay down here for too long, so I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully it will be the last time. In a good way."

Before she can respond, Yumiko darts off into the darkness while waving at her. With nothing else to do until the next day, Yumiko decides to head right back to her room and get some well-deserved rest.

* * *

The following day, Yumiko wakes up at around 7:00, well before anyone else. She wakes up starving as usual and has a very uneasy feeling, as if she had just woken up from a nightmare but doesn't remember it. She brushes the feeling aside like dust and heads to the barracks' kitchen to make breakfast: A very large bowl of white rice and dried plums that is more filling than nutritious.

She then goes out to the laboratory of the 12th Division with two toys she got from her old friend Gokuro in tow. Also the bowl, which she eats while walking to save time. She starts pushing through people the moment she gets into the place until she finds his quarters, then barges in with a nonchalant, "Long time, no see." while one person is hanging onto her leg and is promptly kicked off violently.

The old fish-man-monster thing named Gokuro saunters about his dark room in response, having just gotten up, "Oh, ooooooh! Nishimura-koken! Quite the belligerent entry, don't you think?" He laughs at himself, "Haha! You're going to startle me to death one of these days. So what is it?"

Yumiko rolls her eyes at his behavior, "The collar and bracelet you gave me, I need maintenance on them. Going on a mission today and need them in perfect order."

Gokuro approaches his swivel chair and collapses into it, then slides towards her with his hands out, "Are they acting up? I haven't been getting any data, recently. Oh, and that reminds me! I have one other little _gadget_ for you to mess with!"

Yumiko hands the two metallic tori over to him, "I just haven't used them in a while. Sorry, but they're kind of uncomfortable."

Gokuro takes them and swivels back around to his desk where he immediately gets to work checking the internals, "That's no good, I can't develop new equipment for you if you don't give me data! And yes, I've got something for that. Just a little padding should work wonders."

Yumiko just nods along, sitting and waiting silently while he works. It takes quite a long and boring time during which several people interrupt in an effort to figure out what she's doing here. He finishes with a glad remark, "They're good as new! Good thing you came to me, the bracer was suffering some wear. I think one of the capacitors was about to bust! Ha!" He laughs hysterically as if an exploding armband is funny. Well, I guess it kind of is if you're not on the receiving end.

"Oh, and I installed some padding. I'll make more professional pads later, but this should do just fine." He hands the bracer and collar back to Yumiko, both now shined and looking slightly better, plus having some taped together fabrics as padding. It's ugly, but putting them on reveals that it's actually very snug. Bulkier, but snug. She nods to him and smiles.

"And before I forget..." he adds, revealing the gadget he was talking about "I made this: A holographic aiming reticle!" He holds out a tiny pentagonal block that looks like it could be inserted into something. Yumiko raises an eyebrow. Gokuro explains, "It's a simple attachment to the bracelet that uses a very small amount of the storage to power a reticle that can calculate all sorts of things in real time! It works with all functions of your zanpakuto that I know of so far. Just plug it in and activate your weapon, then pull back the string and it will do all of the work. Oh, and it doesn't matter which hand you put it on."

After he finishes explaining, she snags it and plugs it into the only available slot. It protrudes in an ugly way, but doesn't obstruct too much. "Neat," she says "but I'm guessing it's one of those things that seems useful on the surface but gets in the way more than it helps. Oh well, guess I'll try it out." She stands up and prepares to leave, "Well, thanks. You're a life-saver. In this case, it's literal."

He waves her off, "Hope you survive!" He breaks into hysterics again while Yumiko awkwardly leaves. She sets the bracelet onto 10% Reiatsu suppression and leaves the building, silently thinking up an approach for the later day.

And so, the later day comes like a bullet. In no time at all, the clock reads 19:00 and Yumiko finds herself with three plans and a belt full of tricks to use. She calls everyone again to make sure they remember the time and tells them to meet up at the front gate. Immediately following, she goes through the arduous process of finding the two lieutenants and listening them bicker over who gets to request the Senkaimon. Yumiko simply leaves them to bicker with a disinterested and mildly annoyed mood.

In about 15 minutes, everyone has amassed at the gate outside and are patiently waiting for their leader. She slowly and regally marches out from the barracks towards them, looking stern and worn as usual. They say nothing, so she greets them, "I see everyone has made it. Before we go, we must discuss the goal and entry plan. Tonight is a search and rescue mission of which we do not have a particularly long time to finish. I would prefer to complete it as quickly as possible and not risk anything more. I've sent you the image that came with the profile of the missing shinigami. Look it over well."

The rest of them look at their Denreishinki and see the picture: Rukia Kuchiki. Her last name is not listed as to not rouse suspicion. However, this doesn't exactly work. Heidi blurts out, "Hey, isn't this that Rukia Kuchiki kid? _She_ went MIA?"

Yumiko immediately hushes her, "Quiet down!" She approaches closely and whispers to her, "Nobody outside of this team and the captain are to know that she is missing. Don't go saying things that can get you in deep trouble."

She backs away menacingly while Heidi is left slightly surprised and confused. Yumiko continues, "Our entry plan is actually very simple: There will be no splitting up. We will all amass on each highest reading of spiritual energy in the town until we find her. Given she is a shinigami, she should be easy to locate by sense alone. You will all assume a stealth approach and stay on the high ground. Pincer formation in two groups, but stick close. If one group is attacked, the other group will circle around and attack from the flank or behind. Prioritize ranged over melee combat when possible. Do you understand?"

Sasuke stomps and plants his weapon firmly into the ground, "Yes madam!"

Kokoro nods firmly, "Got it!"

Chiziwa slams her fist into her hand, "I do!"

Heidi hoists her sword on her shoulder, "Bring 'em on." Her husband says nothing.

Yumiko crosses her arms, "Good. Now, double-check to make sure you have everything you need. There is one more person we need, that will be about 20 minutes from now."

She slowly walks back into the barracks and allows everyone to discuss their own personal plans and check their equipment. About 20 minutes later as stated, Yumiko returns with nobody in tow. Or, everyone simply can't sense or see her.

"Converge on me! Masamunes, to my front flanks. Yumiko and Chiziwa, hind flanks! Sasuke, take the hind! Leave the space directly behind me empty."

They all get into formation, making a pentagon-like shape. She commands them to march towards the Senkaimon. On the way there, she tells everyone the compositions of the formations to use, "Pincer formation will consist of two groups. Group 1 is Heidi, Jinpachi, and Sasuke. Group 2 is Kokoro, Chiziwa, and myself. When I order wedge, assume an arrow formation. Assume all formations with heaviest in front: Jinpachi, then Heidi, Chiziwa, Sasuke, myself, and finally Kokoro! When I order Schiltron, gather in a square formation and put up all available defensive measures! When I order Echelon, arrange horizontally and diagonally! When I order Vee, find your nearest ally and protect their back flanks! Herringbone, form a line and face to the left and right alternatingly; last in line faces back! Phalanx, arrange in horizontal lines with weapons ready!"

Kokoro interrupts, "How many times do we have to hear this!?"

"Every! Single! Mission!" Yumiko yells. Everyone except Sasuke groans.

Soon enough, they mercifully reach the Senkaimon where two members of the Kido Corps await their arrival. The two lieutenants are also there to make sure that they get there safely. Nobody suspects the empty space that Kakunaka occupies, and so they are able to easily acquire their Jigokucho and pass through the gate without incident.

* * *

On the other side, they arrive just as the sun is setting on the horizon. Yumiko immediately orders, "Everyone, entry plan executes now! Move slowly and suppress your presence. Stay no more than one block apart. Jinpachi, where's the largest source of spiritual energy!?"

Jinpachi closes his eyes and begins to concentrate after speaking, "This may take a minute."

Meanwhile, Yumiko lets her bakudo go as soon as the Senkaimon closes. "That's enough. We're here." she says as Taeko releases her own bakudo. She appears out of nowhere to everyone else.

Kokoro literally jumps at the sight of her, "Wh-What!? Kakunaka? Where did you...?"

"I owed her this." Yumiko briefly explains. "Kakunaka, you're free now. Stay and help or not, we never knew each other. Got it? No harsh feelings."

"Well shit!" Taeko says in an upbeat tone "Th' leas' I coul' do is 'elp!" She cracks her knuckles and starts jumping around, trying to energize herself.

"If you insist." Yumiko says, with one caveat "But stay away from us. You're backup."

"Go' it, go' it." she confirms. "Oh! By th' way, I lef' you a li'l some'n in my ches' back 'ome!"

Yumiko hums in acknowledgment. Meanwhile, Chiziwa approaches from behind and asks, "So what are the other plans? By the way, try not to get in trouble helping people like her out."

"I won't. If any of us is going to get in trouble, it's not going to be me." Yumiko reassures her. "But anyways, the plan if this fails to catch her is as follows: We each split into groups of two and search parallel along the streets for any traces of spiritual power left by shinigami until we find her. If that still yields nothing, We will systematically search through buildings starting with the residential areas, then going to commercial, then to industrial. We will also work our way from the outer to the inner city."

"You really think she's hiding like that? Maybe she just forgot the date." Chiziwa tries to reason optimistically.

Yumiko denies her, "I doubt it. I've been on a few of these already. When a shinigami goes MIA, we also presume they are KIA until we find proof to the contrary. There hasn't been a defect in a long time, apparently. Most just die and we have to send a search party to retrieve the remains if there are any."

With that grim reality set in, Chiziwa sullenly backs up without another word. Yumiko turns around and pats her on the shoulder, "Don't worry too much about it. Not worth it."

Chiziwa smiles, consoled by the touch, "You're right. Let's get going." As Yumiko then turns around, she finds herself staring at the girl with a difficult and anticipatory expression. "No, I'll do it after." she says to herself. This catches Kokoro's attention, who looks over with a similar but more worried look.

"Jinpachi!" Yumiko yells again "Got a lead?"

"I've got it." he confirms in a deep and foreboding voice.

"Lead the way, then." Yumiko commands.

Everyone assumes the position on her command. The Masamunes and Sasuke gather into a group and take the right, leading the way by a 20-meter lead. Yumiko, Chiziwa, and Kokoro assemble and follow beside them on the neighboring building line. Kakunaka decides to go low and take the center streets between them while zig-zagging between the alleyways using her Shunpo.

The formation appears to have been mostly unnecessary, as the evening and soon night is mostly calm. Eerily calm, in fact. No hollows in sight, and most of the spiritual energy seems to be converging on one location. Yumiko finds this curious, and everyone now knows where Jinpachi is headed. They catch up to the other group in short order and follow side-by-side now that they're on the same track. Yumiko yells over at them, "Oii! Jinpachi, Heidi, Sasuke! Everyone stop before we get in range!"

The others nod to her. The location in question appears to be some sort of office building in the downtown of Karakura which has been completely abandoned and even looks condemned. Construction equipment surrounds it even though nobody is around, so they can all reasonably assume that it's being demolished soon unless they're rebuilding it. The party all stops just a block away from it and Yumiko calls them all together at her location.

Everyone gathers, and she begins, "Alright, looks like this is a pretty big hotbed here. I don't know if it's hollows or pluses, but we may need to deal with this regardless of if we find the girl or not. She will surely eventually appear if she's still patrolling and we can catch her then. If not, we can still get a pretty good bounty here. Would be a bonus. For now, we're going to camp out here for an hour and no longer. Suppress your Reiatsu and keep low with your eyes on the building. Stay in formation and converge on the flanks of the building on my mark. Do not engage unless attacked. Sasuke, keep an eye on me. I'll use my Denreishinki as a telegraph. You know Morse code, right?"

Sasuke nods, "You taught me, remember?"

"I did. Glad you remember." she compliments. "Any questions?" she then asks everyone.

Kokoro speaks up, "Shouldn't someone be watching our backs? You know, in case something attacks from behind."

"Good question." Yumiko says "Kokoro, you'll be watching our back. Chiziwa will watch the building, I'll watch the sides and give orders. Sasuke, you watch the sides and me, translate the orders. Heidi, watch the back over there. Jinpachi, watch the building."

Everyone nods. Yumiko does so again. She dismisses them back to original positions. Meanwhile, Kakunaka comes up and asks to do something, to which Yumiko says, "If you want to help, either stay back and wait for the fighting to start before charging in or make sure we aren't walking into a trap."

Kakunaka thinks for a second, then decides to stay back some ways. She disappears in seconds.

The party proceeds to camp on top of those buildings for another hour, during which time literally nothing appears to happen. The odd part is that the building's concentration of spiritual energy appears to be _increasing_ despite nothing being there. Suddenly the bored but diligent Sasuke notices blinking from the other side. He immediately begins translating the order, "Sending probe. Prepare to advance." He delivers the message to Jinpachi who says nothing but nods in affirmation.

Soon after, Yumiko rises up and activates her shikai, then draws a regular, solid arrow and fires it at the building. Then another, this time into a window. Then another, at the perimeter surrounding the building. It stops, and they wait another ten minutes. There's another bout of flashing, with the message this time being, "Secure the perimeter."

He quietly delivers this to Heidi and Jinpachi in that order. The three stand up and jump down, then silently and stealthily use the cover of the new night to move undetected into the area surrounding the building. Yumiko's group follows suite and surrounds the opposite side while Kakunaka takes their place on top of the building and watches them to make sure nothing is coming from the outside, in.

They search the area for at least 5 whole minutes before converging on the only entrance into the office. Now in whispering distance, Yumiko quietly orders them to file in one at a time and stay on high alert until they know what's in here. The door seems to be unlocked so they have no trouble or noise getting in. Yumiko goes first, only to notice that the inside is pitch black.

" _Rosoku_." Yumiko commands, a ball of light that illuminates the entire room appearing beside her head and moving above it. She then grabs the ball and tosses it into the darker depths, slowly casting light over everything still caked in darkness. It's the reception room, with a desk at the end. It looks like nobody is here except for some ghastly figure sitting in the receptionist's chair. The furniture aside from the desk is all broken down and covered in dust; knocked over and pushed aside into piles. There are large and clear walkways as if someone had just piled all the rubble and garbage into the corners of the room. Construction equipment is also lying around everywhere. Yumiko signals the others to come in as she approaches the plus.

The plus speaks robotically, "Hello. May I help you with anything, today?"

Yumiko can't help but believe this plus doesn't understand she's dead. She immediately interrogates it, "Do you know what's going on around here?"

"What do you mean?" the plus asks.

"This building is obviously in ruins, you're dead, and there's a bunch of spirits running around here, apparently. What happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I've been working here for the past 6 years and nothing has changed." she stubbornly denies.

Yumiko gets a little impatient, "You're _dead_. Don't you see that? How else would you be able to see a shinigami?"

"I don't believe in such superstitious things as those." she continues to deny. "Now is there anything I can help you with?"

Yumiko rolls her eyes and groans painfully. Finally, she decides to get a little serious and attempt to extract some information before sending this plus off. She carefully exerts just enough Reiatsu that the plus feels it easily, but not enough that it damages her. She immediately seizes up and starts to freak out, "What...what's going on!? Are you attacking me?"

"Look around you." Yumiko orders. "Look at the place you live in. Do you see the dust built up on this desk you sit at?" She wipes it onto her finger and shows it. "Can you see now? This place is dead. You are dead. The only reason you're still around is because someone isn't doing their job and I'm here to clean up."

The plus can't speak through her sheer dumbfoundedness. She still persists in her stubbornness, "I don't...I don't know what you're talking about." She's clearly lying.

"Maybe I should just send you away without an explanation if you're not going to be useful." Yumiko threatens, deadpan but firm.

Finally, she relents and starts to break down, "...Satoshi...Satoshi would never do that, would he? Why? He came happy every day, but..."

Suddenly, Kokoro grabs Yumiko's shoulder and whispers to her, "That's enough."

Yumiko stops releasing Reiatsu, and the plus continues to ramble to herself, "I thought we were friends. But he hugged me and...I...I don't know."

She doesn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular, just herself. Yumiko starts to figure out what might have happened and lets her continue.

"I'm dead? That means..." She looks completely terrified all of the sudden, then breaks down into a crying mess in seconds.

Yumiko comments as she walks behind the desk, "I think I know what happened. Stay still..."

The plus turns to her, teary-eyed. Yumiko stands above her, but soon bends down and puts a hand on her shoulder with the reassuring words, "I give you mercy. Forgive the sins of the unworthy and forget your former life." She plants the hilt of her reverted Zanpakuto on the soul's forehead and watches as they disappear into nothingness.

With that, she comes back around and commands the others, "Guys, we're dealing with a pretty big mess here, looks like. Possibly a mass murder."

Everyone has piled inside by now and is looking around absentmindedly, but snap to attention at the sound of her voice. Nobody speaks, so she continues, "Everybody stick close. Single file line, don't split up under any circumstance. If you find a plus, perform Konso and keep moving. Try to get as many as possible before the hollows inevitably start swarming this place. Get ready for a fight."

They all file through the left wing of the first floor and start searching the place without another word. Nobody dares speak with such a heavy atmosphere about them. As they march through and start purifying things left and right, they find themselves coming across mostly docile and lifeless pluses that are hunched over in their cubicles depressedly. As if the pose that they died in is the one they've been in for a long time. Many are even just lying in the middle of the walkway to be stepped on while some are leaning against the wall in a big line.

On the way through, Yumiko can't help but ponder the situation in her head, _"This is kind of weird. The building is clearly going to be demolished, but how did it get into this state so quickly? Surely the hollows would have gotten here and had a feast already with this many pluses. It's like active bait, so why aren't they here? They could have easily attacked us already if it were a trap, but it's been at least 10 minutes and they still haven't appeared. Do they know we're here? And how the hell have no shinigami been dispatched to deal with this? Surely a mass murder in a spiritual hotspot would have been a red flag. Was this recent? It couldn't be, the building is in ruins. There's dust everywhere, and doesn't demolition take time to start preparations on?"_

They get to the second floor, the next will be halfway to the roof. It's a short but somewhat wide building. More pluses, but they're thinning out steadily. She continues to think, _"There's no way a hollow could fabricate the illusion of a plus. I don't know any art a shinigami could use to do that, either. They must be real, so what happened? Did they all converge from one location to here? No, then their chains of fate would be broken and at least a few would have become hollows. Shit, I should have asked that receptionist what year it was. If she said something like '1980' it would make a little bit of sense. Wait, their chains..."_

She stops in her tracks and finds the nearest plus bent over at his desk. She inspects the plus' chest for the chain, only to find that it's been broken and is still quite long. She freezes completely. _"Just as I thought! These pluses converged here recently. That's far too suspicious."_ Just as they're about to move on to the next floor, she yells at them, "Everyone stop, now! We're retreating!"

Chiziwa speaks up, "Eh? Just like that? It doesn't look dangerous around here to me."

Yumiko firmly objects, "We are leaving, Rieko. That's an order. Something...no, everything is wrong. This scenario just isn't possible."

* * *

She starts to march out quickly, beckoning the others to follow. They obediently do so despite their objections. Suddenly, Jinpachi calls out, "Yumiko, I think you were right. I'm sensing something coming at us fast."

She acknowledges him with a nod, but doesn't stop. She's the first to exit, and he tries to stop her. Unfortunately, she doesn't and ends up being the target of a dive-bombing hollow! The winged serpent-like beast comes at her so quickly that she almost doesn't see it coming, but she still manages to at least defend herself by hold her sword horizontal and lodging it between its teeth as it opens its mouth to bite her! She gets sent back, skidding across the ground but holding firm until they come to a stop. With it lodged in place and unable to wiggle out quickly enough, she sticks her hand deep into its mouth and yells, " _Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado #31: Shakkaho!_ "

A giant red ball of plasma forms in her hand and widens so far that it skirts the edges of the hollow's mouth! She fires it in a pillar-like shape that burns and cuts through it like butter, leaving nothing but an evaporating skull in her wake. The pillar is so fearsome that it also manages to fire into the sky and graze another hollow which catches fire and starts to panic. She looks into the sky to see the oncoming wave, and counts at least 13 of them, not counting those that would appear on land.

"Everyone, out in the open! Echelon, firing line! Prepare a ranged volley!" Yumiko orders. Everyone gets into a diagonal line with a lot of space between them. They each prepare their own spells and point up, waiting for her mark.

" **Fire!** " She yells, with everyone except Kokoro sending off bolts of lightning with Hado #4: Byakurai. She decides to show off a little and use Hado #32: Okasen, which sends out a wide ray of yellow plasma that catches quite a few hollows off-guard.

Deciding to cover the cooldown between volleys, Yumiko activates her bow and decides to try out that new reticle thing that Gokuro was talking about. She draws her string and creates an arrow of Reiatsu, then lets a small portion of that create the strange circular disk reticle in front of the arrow. It expands to cover a fairly wide area of view and shows what appears to be a faux-3D firing arc marked in bright red. As she moves the bow side-to-side, the arc changes respectively. She powers the arrow down a little and watches the arc change again to accommodate. Finally, she actually uses it and lines it up steadily until one hollow of them all is lit up red, then lets go. It looks like it's going to miss by a bit, but it surprisingly hits right on the mark and blows the hollow's mask clean off.

She then pulls out a regular arrow to see if it works differently. Pulls back and sees that the arc is much shorter in range, so she has to aim higher up to hit the same target. However, she also then notices a separate indicator that looks like a lead. It appears to be identifying the hollows intelligently and giving each one their own lead marker. She aims quite high and tries her best to line up one of the lead markers with the arc, then faithfully fires. In just a few seconds, she notices the hollow she was aiming at become staggered in its flight and start crashing down into the ground. She smiles and says to herself, "Damn fine work, you crazy old fish."

By the time she finishes that sentence, everyone has fired once more and struck down most of the hollows. They've not died but instead simply been grounded. Only a few still remain in the air and begin to circle the building instead of diving.

Chiziwa speaks up again, "Well shit, you were right. Pretty crazy that a bunch of ferals could set this up."

Yumiko argues, "They're not ferals. Hollows are not stupid, they're incredibly deceptive. They may be easy to kill in combat, but their cunning is what ends most shinigami. This is why we always check for traps."

Without further hesitation, she orders everyone to finish them off with another volley and immediately enter Herringbone formation. They all proceed to fire off a shakkaho blast at the grounded hollows and assume the position. The smoke clears to reveal them to be mostly dead, or at least crippled beyond usefulness. She warns them to not get close as they could thrash around unpredictably.

"Alright, now let's make our way down the road slowly and—" Yumiko is interrupted.

Sasuke who was at the back yells, "We've got more coming! There's a lot of them, about 20 on the ground!"

Kokoro yells as well, "There's more from the side!"

Then Chiziwa with a much more alarmed tone, "Uh, Yumiko! What the hell is that thing!?"

"What is it!?" Yumiko yells back at her, unable to stop watching their front.

"It's..." Chiziwa has trouble describing it "...some sort of black hole in the sky! There's something big coming out of it!"

Now she can't help but look. Yumiko glances away from the injured hollows to stare at the Garganta opening up in the sky, unsure of its nature. There, she sees some sort of dark angel ascending through it. A massive beast as tall as three or four men and with 6 giant raven wings that block the moon itself with their size. Its body is covered in tar-black fur and it lurches forward with massive, razor-sharp talons for arms that plant themselves into the roof of the building. Its many thorny limbs for legs are much smaller and dig in as well, making it look like some sort of hybrid between an insect and an ape. Its torso is completely disproportionate to the rest of its body, and its shoulders are ridiculously broad. Its neck stretches out horribly like a snake and reveals its mask: a simple, white, round mask with two holes for eyes and no mouth.

The moment she sees its face, Yumiko starts to tear up. She goes wide-eyed and her skins turns completely pale as if she had just seen someone slaughtered in front of her. Completely speechless, she can only stammer while the others glance over at her in shock at her reaction. "No...no, no, no, no..." she starts to repeat while backing up and losing her grip on her weapon.

The air becomes as heavy and dense as iron, while the earth itself becomes a giant magnet. The world begins to lose color and become distored while the heat leaves their bodies completely.

It speaks, with a voice so distorted and deep that any normal person wouldn't be able to understand it, **"IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, NAMELESS GIRL."**

* * *

 _ **Next time on Nikushimi no Ya: Act 1, Chapter 8 - My Enemy. Nothing could prepare her for this.**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

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 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	18. Act 1 CH8: My Enemy

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 8:**

 **MY ENEMY**

This was no longer a normal battle. No longer a normal mission. No longer were they merely in harm's way, but directly in the line of fire of a war galleon. As she stares up at the terrible beast which has descended upon them, she no longer feels fear, but abject horror at the prospect of facing it.

"You..." she stammers "you..." she starts to back away, drawing her bow "..." she tries to speak, but nothing comes out. It simply looks at her and she feels the wind get knocked out of her lungs. She gasps for air and has to nearly kneel to not be outright incapacitated.

"Yumi! Are you alright!?" Kokoro calls to her from the deafening haze.

Her resolve comes back when she hears that girl's voice. She stands to her feet and looks back up at the dark angel looming before them. She stares it in the eyes and silently condemns it to death.

Then she turns to the others, "Everyone, full power NOW!"

Nodding in agreement, they all begin to unleash their Zanpakuto.

" **Tomaranai-Ryuko!** **Storm!** " Sasuke Maresuke yells, his nodachi transforming into a threatening naginata while the winds of a hurricane wreathe themselves around it!

Kokoro raises her sword on high and yells, " **Shatter stone, Hibiki no Tsue!** " Her katana morphs itself into the shape of a falchion with an ornate, full-hand guard. It vibrates and hums with a high-pitched squeal that pierces the sensitive ears of the hollows!

Chiziwa assumes a ballet stance and caresses her arms with the opposite hand at the same time while calling, " **Trail across skin, Hana no Kanmuri!** " Her previous twin wakizashi with spiked knuckles transform, becoming an intricate weave of natural plant matter in the shape of gloves. Vines, leaves, flowers blooming all across her body. The plants converge on her head, where they form a crown of Red Spider Lilies and leave her looking more dryad than human.

Heidi is next, spinning her nodachi around while yelling, " **Split the earth, Hiretsu na Kusabi!** " It instantly extends, its blade converging at the tip into a massive Dane Axe!

Her husband Jinpachi follows in a more hushed volume, " **Eclipse, Koukan Yama.** " He holds the nodachi in front, allowing it to stretch out and morph into a giant, golden round shield with a ring of orange-red light surrounding the edge. It's so large that it would completely cover any one of his teammates, and so bright that causes the hollows who witness its transformation to turn away!

Finally, Yumiko gives them their orders, "Everybody into two groups! Kokoro, Heidi, Jinpachi in one; Sasuke, Chiziwa, and me in two! One, you take the fodder, two covers your back! Sasuke, whip up a whirlwind and make sure that thing doesn't get down here!"

However, the massive hollow has a different plan, " **OH, ARE YOU ALL POWERING UP NOW? MY TURN!"** It smacks its claws together loudly, once.

Another garganta suddenly opens up in the sky! This time, something even more massive steps out: A giant white foot. It steps out next to the building, landing in the streets next to them with its giant, black form blocking out most of the sky and casting an immeasurable shadow onto the party.

"No way..." Jinpachi says to himself. The others watch in shock.

"A...Menos!?" Heidi yells, almost sounding excited at the thought of fighting such a powerful entity.

Indeed, the telltale stature and mask of the Menos Grande reveal themselves just in time for the hollow who summoned it to mock them, " **THIS SHOULD PROVE AN ADEQUATE CHALLENGE. TRY NOT TO DIE AND DISAPPOINT ME; THERE ARE PLENTY WHERE THAT CAME FROM."**

Yumiko cynically and rhetorically states, "You are fucking kidding me." Of course, it's not. She takes that plan back, "Okay, new plan! One, take care of the Menos! Two, we'll hold the line on the fodder front! Kakunaka, we could really use that backup right now!"

Kakunaka who had been watching now yells from the top of the building, "Go' it! **Repea' Ritu'l, Tsuin Kousen Fuu'in!** " Her wakizashi proceeds to turn into a pair of black nunchaku connected by a steel chain. She starts spinning one of the ends around like a windmill until it's moving so quickly that one can barely see its shape! She yells at the others, "'Ey, I'mma swing on th' big boy! D'strac' 'im fo' me!"

They aren't sure exactly what she said, but end up complying regardless. While everyone repositions, the Menos starts to very slowly start charging up its Cero, giving them ample time to dodge or shield. They prefer the Latter. As soon as they see it coming, Jinpachi crouches and commands everyone to get behind him. Heidi is behind him while Kokoro behind her, and he puts his giant shield up in the way of the blast. The cero fires, engulfing them almost completely as he yells, "Kagami Kosen!"

The words carry power, and the energy sent forth by the cero is completely absorbed into the shield! Its outer ring of light begins to glow like the sun itself, brightly enough to blind anyone looking directly at it. He stands back up, completely unscathed, "You two alright?"

They both nod and stand back up. They all three start converging on it again, only slightly slowed by the attack. The Menos finally notices that it had failed as they arrive near its feet and start to whack at it ineffectually, like three lumberjacks at a massive tree. It starts roaring in annoyed rage and raises its foot to stomp on them, but its slow movements allow them to simply run away before it can reach them. The stomps create horrible tremors which those who can't see what's happening would mistake for minor earthquakes.

Meanwhile, Sasuke has successfully created a particularly powerful whirlwind above the battlefield that takes form as extremely fast stormclouds rotating into a miniature supercell! Not strong enough to create a tornado, but enough to obscure the ground from both the summoner hollow and the Menos, making both of them slightly annoyed. The Menos starts thrashing around angrily, its huge and telegraphed attacks being deadly but easily avoided.

The fodder are weak as one would expect. It only really takes Sasuke and Yumiko to hold them back with their projectile attacks while Chiziwa prefers to not throw herself into them and instead continues using kido. The only reason they don't join in the fight with the Menos is that the horde just _doesn't end._ They persist like a massive Zerg Rush, being created as quickly as they're slaughtered.

The stormcloud happens to just be at the building-top level, allowing Kakunaka to see where she needs to aim to latch onto the towering hollow. She picks her spot carefully, waiting for the correct time to strike. "Magai no Deba...Tori Hoshu..." she whispers to her weapon, with it first creating two Reiatsu blades and then one Reiatsu spike on the end of the spinning part. The Menos starts to open its mouth and point down, "There!" She suddenly stands up and spins far harder than she was before, the tosses it in one practiced motion so hard that it flies like an arrow towards the Menos! Its chains lengthen as it flies, then tighten after its thrown end embeds itself painfully into the hollow's skin!

She smiles cockily, then takes a step back, dashing forward and leaping off of the building while her weapon forcefully retracts! She swings on it like a rope as far as she can before it dislodges mid-swing and she's forced to throw herself right into its torso. She grabs on tight, hoists her feet up onto it, then uses her Shunpo to dash quickly up its length just in time to see it nearly done charging the Cero! She climbs up onto the top of its head and leans over its mask, then waves at it.

"'Ey there!" She greets the now confused hollow, tossing two groups of small objects into both of its eye sockets. She leaps back up and takes cover behind its head while the flashbangs explode inside of its mask, right up against its eyes! The Menos recoils and bellows, blinded and forced to fire off its Cero into the sky.

The others see the flasbang from below and notice the missed cero as a red glow through the clouds. The Masamunes and Kokoro take the advantage to give it a few more good whacks before retreating and regrouping to figure out how to beat this thing.

* * *

"Well shit, looks like we're not really doing anything to it." Heidi states, breathing heavily.

"There has to be some way..." Kokoro assumes. "Maybe try one of your techniques?"

Heidi and Jinpachi look at each other, seeming to think the same thing. They smile and nod to each other. "Stand back!" Heidi tells their small friend.

Jinpachi stands at near the beast as it stomps around, shield pointed up into the air and held completely flat. Heidi backs up far behind him and gets into a sprinting stance, then dashes forward at a breakneck pace towards him! She yells on the way, "Gun no Hakaisha!" and a huge, rectangular extension of the blade made of Reiatsu sprouts from the top. Its length is boosted by at least 3 meters!

She reaches Jinpachi quickly, using her momentum to leap right on top of his shield like a platform. He grunts, then pushes up hard enough to launch her into the air towards the Menos' coattails! She grabs onto it and latches on, using the beard of her axe as a pick and climbing up some ways until she finds its shin. She holds the axe outwards and yells, "Hasai Sesshoku!" As she swings the extended axe across the hollow's foot! The blade slams into it with immense force. Everyone around can feel the shockwave that it emits at least a little, and it's so harsh that it rattles the Menos' entire body!

Up on top of it, Kakunaka can feel the attack and yells down at them, "'Ey, I fel' tha' all th'way up 'ere!" Of course, they can't hear her over the raging whirlwind. She continues using her bladed nunchaku to repeatedly wail on the back of the Menos' head while it tries to swat her with its hands, but she's so fast that it's like a sloth trying to grab a fly.

The repeated blows are not only making it bleed like a stuck pig, but there's something else to her strikes. Each one sends a huge jolt of electricity through its body. Every few strikes, it feels like moving its arm is becoming harder and harder. Its knees are weakening aside from one being cleaved right in half by Heidi. Its entire body seems to be crumbling at the seems just from this girl's tiny strikes!

Below, Heidi lands on the ground feet-first after landing that devastating blow. She backs up slowly and watches as Jinpachi finishes the combo by speaking to his shield, "Jigoku Enkei ~ Chakram..." He holds the shield like a frisbee, the entire thing becoming utterly black before everyone's eyes who watches. The light ring brightens, becoming a swirling vortex of white fire soon after he throws it! The disc spins to the side as if it's going to miss, but then curves slowly back around and slices into the Menos' leg like a hot knife through snow before returning right to him, good as new. Its leg falls off to the side, forcing the beast to collapse onto its knee and grab the building.

The building itself nearly collapses from the force being put on it. The summoner scolds it, " **MINDLESS BESTIAL FOOL! DO NOT GRAB THE BUILDING OR YOU WILL BRING US BOTH DOWN!"**

The Menos cannot stand on its own and continues to hang onto the building with one hand while grabbing at Kakunaka with the other. She manages to fuck up dodging it, or at least gets unlucky, because it drives her into a corner where it can finally clasp both hands around her and grab her tightly. It hurts, but kneeling on its stump at least lets it use both hands.

Kakunaka struggles in its grasp, being squeezed so hard that she could literally pop like a balloon at any second. She barely manages through the pain to mock it, "F-Fuckin' ugly, ov'sized reaper wannabe! YOU' GONNA DIE!"

The Menos is about to squeeze her to death, but some sort of horribly, unfathomably grating sound assaults its hearing! The sound is so ear-rapingly loud that the Menos immediately ditches killing her and just throws her into the ground below so it can cover its head and groan in pain.

Kakunaka lands with a particularly painful-sounding crack that sounds like her back just broke. She finds herself being unable to get up afterwards, and also the red glow of a cero forming above her. "Ah, shi'..." she whispers to herself, sighing and deciding to simply accept that she's about to die or at least be gravely injured. However, Jinpachi is ready for it and comes to rescue her! He dives in the way and leans over her, holding the shield up with the same command as earlier. A much weaker burst Cero fires down upon them and is completely absorbed into his shield without incident. He looks down at her and asks, "You okay?"

She nods, saying nothing. He smiles gladly and lifts her up and onto his shoulder. He carries her over to the side of the building and sets her down, timidly asking her to wait there until the hollow is dead. She still says nothing, so he just takes that as a yes and leaves.

Kokoro is standing directly in front of where the Menos is now leaning over, holding her falchion up at it and yelling, "Nomari no Nami!" every few seconds. There seems to be a distortion in the air around her sword that extends like a cone into the distance, pointed right at the Menos' face. It continues to groan as long as she's holding it like that, complementing Heidi who is still whacking at the thing's other leg and almost has it completely chopped off.

With all of them working so hard, Kakunaka feels somewhat useless. Thus, she does what she can to help, "B-Bak'do #61: Rik'jok'ro." Despite her butchering of the word, it still works: Six massive beams of yellow light surround and impale the Menos, immobilizing it further! She yells to Kokoro, "I's stuck! Now's you' chance!"

Kokoro nods to her, then tells Heidi from afar after finishing her attack, "Heidi, get ready to do it!"

Heidi whips her head around towards Kokoro, then gives her a thumbs up and a viciously eager grin. "Love, you ready?" she asks Jinpachi.

He nods, "As ready as I can be. Try not to hurt yourself."

They both smile fondly at each other and start to run backwards as the Menos doubles over in pain. Kokoro yells out as she points her hands towards the Menos, "Bakudo #4: Hainawa!" A long rope of crackling Reishi resembling electricity fires out from her clasped hands, then wraps itself completely around its body! As she pulls as hard as she can to drag it downwards, the Menos tries to retaliate by randomly firing off weak, uncharged Ceros! Jinpachi intercepts each one headed for Heidi and himself, absorbing them into the shield until it glows a bright orange.

Finally, once they're in the position they previously used, Heidi starts charging forth while visibly pouring every ounce of her Reiatsu into her axe! It starts to glow a bright white, blade and haft together. The Menos attempts to stop her with another Cero, but then a giant fireball crashes into its face and makes it flinch! Kakunaka laughs gratingly at it while it veers its head towards her in anger. Before it can attack her, Heidi leaps onto Jinpachi's shield; he launches her upwards once again! She lands on top of the Menos' mask and lifts her axe up while screaming at the top of her lungs, " **Yes! I've been waiting to do this for so long! I deliver unto you my long-awaited finale: SEN UDE KURIBI! I cleave in twain not just your body, but your very soul!** "

As she harshly grasps the haft of the axe, the air around her nearly collapses from the sheer amount of spiritual pressure being released like an explosive decompression! She slams the head of the axe down in the blink of an eye right on top of the hollow's mask, making time in the area seem to come to a standstill. As soon as it makes contact, the Menos' entire body is split in half and undulates violently as if it had just been stricken by all the force of a magnitude 10 earthquake! There is no light to speak of, only the explosive separation of its entire body in less than a second; its mask alone is nearly atomized by the sheer force of the attack! Its two separated parts land on the ground, collapsing into a bloody heap as the hollow's body begins falling apart and fading into the ether.

Heidi leaps back down, her job finished. Her zanpakuto reverts back to its sealed state, and she almost immediately falls backwards, obviously exhausted. Kokoro and Jinpachi come running to her air, the former much more elated than the latter. She cries out, "Oh my gods, Heidi, that was amazing! You killed it in one blow!"

Jinpachi is more worried; he crouches down beside her and starts picking her up in a bridal carry, "You okay? It looked like you overdid it again."

Heidi dismisses both of them in a smug tone, "Ha! It was nothing. I'm just a little tired from that, is all. Get me my snack and I'll be up in a minute!" She smiles and pats Jinpachi on the shoulder.

He smiles back, then sets her down next to kakunaka while reaching into one of his uniform's pockets and pulling out a bag of some sort, presumably full of food. Kokoro finds herself touched by the two, but then remembers that they left the other three alone to fight the rest of the army.

* * *

"Yumi〜!" she yells at Yumiko, still casually firing off arrows into the oncoming horde of cannon fodder hollows.

Yumiko responds without averting her sight, "Kokoro, did you guys kill it? I heard a huge explosion back there! Also, I'm on my last couple arrows!"

Kokoro approaches her from the side and responds, "Yeah, Heidi cut it in half in one blow! Are you all okay?"

"No, this is actually pretty boring. It's just target practice." Yumiko complains. "I think it's just here to keep us busy. Make me waste my ammo. Of course, I'd rather use ammo than my techniques; you know why."

"Hmm..." Kokoro hums worriedly. "Need any help?"

"Yeah, could you take over for me? Last one here." Yumiko asks of her, shortly before letting loose her final missile before the quiver on her back is empty. She backs up quickly and lets Kokoro in.

She takes her place, then starts to accompany Chiziwa in barraging the quickly thinning hollows with low-level kido. Meanwhile, Yumiko runs over to check on the Masamunes and Kakunaka.

The three greet her on sight with a wave. She waves back and asks from them, "Alright, so what happened? Give me the abridged version."

Jinpachi decides to answer for once, "We killed the Menos, but Heidi is worn out. I can keep going, but this friend of yours is also hurt. She fell from pretty high."

"And the _other_ hollow?" Yumiko immediately follows up.

"I haven't seen it." he says.

Yumiko aggravatedly and ominously whispers, "Fuck..."

"What's wrong?" he asks, sensing how tense she is.

Yumiko says nothing for quite some time as she stands there, thoroughly weighing her options. She eventually comes up with the most viable route, "We're falling back."

"What?" Jinpachi asks in bewilderment.

"I know it looks like we're winning this battle, but we already have two people injured and not a single one of us stands a chance against that thing up there. We are falling back. Grab Heidi and Kakunaka, we're leaving while Sasuke's storm is still up."

Just as she turns around to go tell the others, they're all assaulted by the booming voice of the hollow from above, " **IT SEEMS THAT YOU BELIEVE THIS SMOKESCREEN DID ANYTHING TO HELP YOU. DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT HIDING YOUR MERE PHYSICAL FORMS WILL DO NOTHING AGAINST I? HAVE YOU NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?"**

Yumiko freezes in place, then looks up to only see the clouds they created. She looks back at the Masamunes and Kakunaka, then forward at Kokoro, Chiziwa, and Sasuke. She starts to hyperventilate from the stress, she tries to think of a way to flee if physically hiding is impossible. Splitting up would do no good and would leave at least one person dead. She tries to hide her Reiatsu while making a run for the others, but is almost immediately met with a giant trident impaling the ground right in front of where she was about to step. She freezes again, then looks up at the hole in the sky where it had been fired that then seals itself back up.

" **YOU CANNOT HIDE THE FACT OF YOUR EXISTENCE, NAMELESS GIRL."** the hollow informs her.

She grits her teeth. " _What the hell!?"_ she thinks to herself " _How can it see me when I'm completely invisible!? Is it thermal vision? Something that can pierce the cover? But what is the 'fact of your existence' crap? Some sort of cryptic hint? Is it radar, or maybe something...no, maybe I'm just overthinking this. But was that a lucky throw? Did he really know where I was?"_

" **YOU ARE MOST CERTAINLY OVERTHINKING THIS, NAMELESS GIRL. DID I NOT JUST TELL YOU WHY I CAN SEE YOU?"**

"You can hear my thoughts!?" Yumiko loudly guesses.

It laughs in a grating and surreal cry, " **PERHAPS I CAN. WHAT DOES THAT MAKE ME? WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU?"**

"Quit FUCKING WITH ME!" Yumiko scolds it, her usually contained anger sprouting through in a violent fit of screaming.

It only finds enjoyment in her reaction, " **PERHAPS YOU SHOULD BE CALLED SONGBIRD. IS THAT NOT A LOVELY NAME FOR SOMEONE WITH SUCH AN OPEN MOUTH?"**

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" she continues to scream at it.

" **IS NOT ONE OF THE RULES OF WAR TO HIDE YOUR INTENTIONS AND EMOTIONS FROM YOUR FOE?"** it asks her, rhetorically.

Suddenly, she hears the other three call to her, namely Kokoro, "Yumi〜! They're all gone!"

Indeed, it looks like they slew the last of the hollows sent to occupy them. They hurriedly jog towards Yumiko, who has no idea of what to say or how to warn them. She doesn't need to, as it turns out: They all hear a powerful flapping sound above them just before the storm that Sasuke had created is blown away like dead leaves. The six wings of the monstrous hollow blot out the sky while its legs lower themselves into stilts that meet the ground and begin to shrink as it lowers itself to their level.

As soon as they see the stilt legs, everyone begins backpedaling rapidly. When it lowers itself and starts bellowing like a distorted war horn, Yumiko finds herself instinctively bringing up her bow and drawing it; an arrow of Reiatsu materializes and begins growing rapidly.

The other three and Jinpachi all point their weapons at it, preparing for an attack that doesn't seem to come. Instead, the beast talks again, " **YOU ARE NOT WRONG FOR DEFENDING YOURSELVES...BUT DON'T YOU THINK YOUR LEADER IS BEING SLIGHTLY VIOLENT?"**

Just as he says that, Yumiko's arrow slams into the side of his neck. Nothing happens. It merely nudges its neck a little to the side and complains, " **THAT IS QUITE RUDE, LOOSE-FINGERS-GIRL."**

She doesn't listen and instead draws another arrow. The hollow groans, " **DID YOU NOT SEE HOW INEFFECTUAL THAT ATTACK WAS?"**

It starts to look around slowly at its opponents with its extended neck, also rotating its body in an inhuman manner. However, it eventually stops when it sees Kakunaka lying against the wall with her legs and back injured horribly. It turns to face her and speaks, its voice changing from the grating sound to a more human-like one resembling a young male, " **...Taeko...? Is that you?"**

She immediately raises her head to stare at the terrifying beast. For some reason, she looks hopeful among all things; glad, even. "Wha'?" she blankly responds while standing with some trouble.

It comes slightly closer, only for Yumiko to yell at her, "Taeko, don't listen to it! It's tricking you!"

Taeko stares at her, looking confused above all else. The hollow speaks again, " **Taeko, do you remember me?"**

"N...Nakusu!?" She gasps, nearly choking on her own breath.

It draws its mask in closer to her, almost touching her while its scythe-like hands gently nudge her. Yumiko starts to freak out slightly and yells while her voice starts to break, "Taeko, no! It's not...it's not your brother! I know he's alive, I know he's not a hollow! Listen to me, get away from it!"

Taeko glares at her and argues, "Bu' wha'f it is!?" She turns back to the hollow and grabs both sides of its mask, looking directly into its eye holes. "Nakusu, 's 'at really you b'hind tha' mas'?"

As she stares at it and starts to tear up profusely, a hole starts to open up on the mouth part of the mask, as if it were starting to fall apart and disintegrate before her eyes. She can see a glint of humanity within the black abyss of its mask.

Yumiko starts to sweat visibly, pulling her bowstring back as far as it'll go and chanting, "Yumi-maru, Se no me Nirami; Yueki, Hado #34: Shakkaho..." Her arrow straightens itself into a needle-like shape and starts to glow a fiery red color like the kido she infuses it with.

The hollow continues to speak, " **It's been so long...Taeko, did you really come all of this way for me? I told you to stay put."**

Taeko shakes her head as it slowly caresses her head with its scythe hand, "I coul'n't do tha'. Nakusu, when d' you...?" She starts to sob slightly, her face growing uglier by the second with how hard she's about to start bawling.

" **I...I don't know. Taeko, come closer. I need to feel your touch one last time..."**

She finally cracks, breaking into a complete fit of crying and squealing as she buries her face against its mask and starts apologizing profusely to it in such a state that nobody can understand what she's even trying to say. They're starting to have their doubts, but everyone except Yumiko has let their guard down at least a little.

Yumiko is firmly on the side of shooting it. Yet, at the same time, it's a fine line. If she is mistaken and shoots it, she could kill one of her friends' own brother before they have a chance to even make up. She could interrupt something true and beautiful due to a misunderstanding, and simultaneously alienate quite a few people. At the same time, this doesn't make a ton of sense and she intuitively thinks it to be a trick. If she's right and doesn't act, Taeko will die. If she's right and acts, Taeko will live but possibly hate her. If she's wrong and acts, Taeko will hate her. If she's wrong and doesn't act, the girl will finally get the closure she was always looking for. And if she acts but it doesn't die, it may try to kill everyone anyways.

"I'm...I'm sorry for being so spineless..." Yumiko whispers in apology to Taeko who couldn't hear it if she tried. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... You're going to die and it's my fault because I'm too much of a coward. Please, gods, let me be wrong. Please don't die!"

" **Taeko...let's be together forever, now."** The hollow offers, softening its tone accordingly.

She seems to stop sobbing for a moment to nod, then smiles the widest smile that anyone had seen from her. She closes her eyes and bows her head, "Le's go."

* * *

She stands there, hovering just a few inches off the ground, soaked in red. A string of black flesh attached to a bony beak impales itself through her head and leaves every ounce of her pouring onto the ground and splattering on the building behind her. As the beak retracts back into the hollow's mouth, her head falls apart into an amorphous blob of viscera.

In less than a second, Taeko had been decapitated in the most horrifying way possible. Everyone around can only stare, their stomachs churning in disgust the moment her limp body hits the ground with a wet splat and thud. Jinpachi backs up and appears to be on the edge of screaming. Heidi is gritting her teeth and trying to stand up while drawing her weapon. Kokoro completely drops her weapon and holds her hands up to her mouth, complexion going pale as if she were about to vomit while her eyes are shot wide. Sasuke stands mostly unaffected but clearly shaken by the rattling of his weapon. Chiziwa manages to hold back her shock and disgust while quickly going into a defensive stance.

And Yumiko is grinding her teeth together so hard that her molar literally chips in her mouth with a sound so crisp that it would make anyone standing near her cringe. She spits it out and with eyes transfixed on the sight, primally screams in what can only be described as a bloodcurdling roar while she lets her arrow loose. A moment later, she commandingly yells at the others, " _ **Everybody run, NOW!**_ "

And even just moments after that beam pierces through the hollow's body, she has already pulled it back once again. Without the need for chanting any longer, she fires off the same attack again before the first even has time to activate! One after another, she continues to launch a barrage of explosive needles that detonate one after the other in a chain; all while she screams so fiercely as to demoralize lesser hollows into running in fear.

Not only does each explosion engulf the hollow and all near it, but they pierce through it and hit the building they were just in. And not only that, but it goes further through and pierces buildings in the distance before disappearing into the sky. They all explode repeatedly, causing untold collateral damage to everything in her line of fire in mere seconds.

While engulfed in the flames of her fury, the hollow gargles in its original distorted voice, " **YES, TOGETHER FOREVER. HOW NAIVE COULD THAT CHILD POSSIBLY BE? HOW COULD YOU HAVE LET HER DIE LIKE THAT? DOES EMOTION HINDER YOU THIS FAR? YOU ARE ALL SO USELESS THAT IT MAKES ME SICK."**

As it continues to mock them, she does not let up. Even as she must pause for a second to spit out blood from pushing herself so far over the line in just a few seconds, she still still continues trying to annihilate it.

In-between the deafening blasts of the explosions, she can barely hear screaming from the others, "Yumiko! Stop, stop! You're going to kill everybody!"

She ignores them. The laughing hollow raises its neck up into the sky and continues to taunt her, but she becomes deaf to that as well. She can let off one more shot that appears to completely destroy its head before she gets tackled to the ground and yelled at by Chiziwa's familiar voice, "They said stop! Yumiko, are you even listening!?"

Being knocked off balance so suddenly has her head spinning; she coughs up more blood and tries in vain to push the girl off of her. "Off..." she faintly commands "...get off—!" she tries to yell but ends up choking on her own words.

Chiziwa grunts and starts to tear up, lifting Yumiko off of the ground and forcefully dragging her across the street. Yumiko struggles against her, she kicks and flails around in a fit of anger, demanding that she be let go to kill that monstrosity. Chiziwa stays silent and continues to restrain her, even going as far as to toss her into the side of a building and binding her with kido. She yells at Yumiko, "I told you to stay here and that's what you're going to do! This is for your own good, goddammit!" She shakes her head and the tears forming in her eyes with it, then makes a run back for the rest of the group just in time to see the monster of a hollow flap its wings just once to clear the flames from itself and come out seemingly unscathed by the torrential beatdown.

" **NOW, THAT ACTUALLY HURT QUITE A BIT. YOU MADE ME BLEED, NAMELESS GIRL. ISN'T THAT A MIRACLE? OF COURSE, TO THINK THAT THE REST OF YOU BELIEVE YOU STILL STAND A CHANCE AFTER THE STRONGEST OF YOU COULD NOT DEFEAT ME. HOW CUTE."**

It brings its head down and twirls it around like a worm until its gaze meets Kokoro's. Time seems to freeze as it speaks while she stands there, frozen in abject horror, " **SHE SEEMS TO CARE AN AWFUL LOT ABOUT YOU. WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH YOU? PERHAP—"**

Before it can finish its sentence, Chiziwa comes flying in and lands a solid, painful-looking kick to the side of its neck that she follows up by backflipping off of it! She yells, "Konoyo no Yokubo!" and punches it so hard that it completely topples over!

As the beast gets up, it compliments her, " **I SEE THERE IS AT LEAST ONE FORMIDABLE OPPONENT IN THIS PARTY."** It acts smug until it notices that porous holes have started forming and blooming, letting juvenile Lotus flowers and vines out to overtake the area around them! Its neck starts to become overrun by plant matter that regenerates itself rapidly as it tries to pry the plants off.

Giving up, it rises to its feet and faces her. " **HOW STRANGE."** It comments. " **WHAT IS THAT ABILITY?"**

Instead of answering, she tells Kokoro to run and take Yumiko with her while they take care of this thing. Despite her rattled state, she complies and picks up her weapon, running for the hills. Chiziwa turns to the hollow and firmly states, " _I_ will take over, now. **Seiai de Larghissimo**." Two whips made of thorn-covered vines sprout from the plant matter on her hands. She grabs ahold of them and cracks her shoulders before gesturing, "Come at me."

The hollow is about to turn to her, but is immediately struck from the side by a weak cut to its arm. It turns its attention to that side and notices that Heidi has gotten back up and is standing there with a smirk on her face. She gestures towards Jinpachi who whispers to his shield, "Jigoku Enkei..."

Suddenly, the already bright ring of light around his shield completely covers it and becomes even more intense! It launches a blinding light at the hollow which makes it flinch and look away with a cry while at the same time, two people appear to have lept onto its back! The thorny whips also slash against its neck and wrap around it, allowing her to tug on it. Yet, to no avail, it does not even budge. It simply looks a little bit annoyed until Sasuke and Heidi who had latched onto it proceed to shove their respective weapons into two of its wings! It rears up and roars at them, bending its neck backwards and twisting it around while it lifts its body. Without warning, it opens its mouth and launches a scattershot Cero that Heidi manages to dodge, but Sasuke gets hit in the side of the head by. Part of his mask shatters, and his ear gets completely scraped off to only leave a bloody and burnt stump. He bears with the pain and doesn't scream out, but instead counterattacks! He stabs his naginata into the back of the beast and starts churning it around, summoning a massive whirlwind beneath them which lifts the hollow off of the ground! He leaps off just as it tries to shoot him again, landing on the ground and gesturing his naginata to shoot it up into the air. The wind picks up, launching the hollow into the air with such speed that it snaps Chiziwa's whip in half. She discards it and draws another.

Sasuke runs back over to where it was, then plants his naginata into the ground the same as last time, then beats his fist on the butt. Suddenly the cyclone picks up and transforms into a much more massive cloud that whirls around with hurricane-level winds! In an attempt to counter, the hollow starts randomly firing off Cero buckshots that nearly hit everyone standing below. Everyone except Sasuke gathers up around Jinpachi while he points his shield up and starts absorbing the stray blasts, but in preparation for much more. Finally the winds morph themselves to Sasuke's whim and touch down as a miniature cyclone that slingshots the hollow into the adjacent building and causes it to collapse completely! While it falls, he directs the wind to pick the monster back up and slam it into the ground, then pick it back up again and launch it towards him! He holds out his naginata and impales the incoming hollow. He points up again then launches it into the air, repeating this process another time until impaling it once more.

However, this time the hollow is prepared for it. Despite the injuries it seems to have sustained, it speaks clearly as if nothing had happened, " **YOUR MISTAKE WAS TRYING THE SAME THING TWICE. IRONIC, ISN'T IT?"**

It sticks its needle-like feet into Sasuke all at once and folds its entire body around him, then spreads out at astonishing speeds before the boy can even react. He gets torn asunder and explodes into giblets in mere seconds while everyone watches. It lands gently on its feet and complains, " **POSSIBLY MY MOST ANNOYING OPPONENT SO FAR. WHO IS NEXT ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK? COME AND SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR THE GREATER MISERY FOR THE LOW PRICE OF YOUR UNTIMELY DEMISE! THIS IS ONE OFFER THAT WILL NEVER EXPIRE."**

As soon as it finishes, several huge chunks of spinning concrete slam into its face. In the distance, the others can hear Kokoro yelling, "Yumi〜, no! We need to go, just let them beat it!"

Yumiko stands there, hand outstretched and apparently having broken her binds. She firmly denies, " **No. Yumi-Maru, Ishi Nashi.** "

Another large wall of concrete lifts itself off the ground and corkscrews directly in the hollow who chops it into tiny pieces before it can even hit. Yumiko starts hyperventilating and nearly collapses from overexertion.

* * *

Heidi whispers to Chiziwa, "Are you scared?"

"No." she confidently answers.

"You?" she then asks Jinpachi.

"...Maybe a little." he admits, peeking up from behind his shield at the hollow monster.

Heidi then pulls him in and gives him a sloppy and impassioned kiss for just a few seconds. "Better?" she asks.

He nods, but says nothing. Chiziwa stares at the two with a strange look between apathy and jealousy, but quickly averts her gaze when she hears Kokoro. "What!?" she yells to herself, looking over the shield at Yumiko who had just pelted the beast and Kokoro who is chasing after her. "You idiots!" she scolds the two, not that they can hear her.

As soon as the beast turns its attention to those two, Chiziwa pops out and yells, "No you don't! Hado #33: Sokatsui!" She flings her hand out and snaps her fingers just as the tendril-like wave of blue fire jets from her hand and engulfs the hollow! However, it is only strong enough to revert the beast's concentration on them. Chiziwa immediately ducks beneath the shield just in time for the hollow to snap around and frustratedly vomit up another cero that is pulled ineffectually into the shield to fuel it. This time, he advances towards them and decides to try and end things!

The hollow approaches in the blink of an eye, slamming both of his bladed hands into the shield to test its strength. Jinpachi and his ward barely budge, but he dares not peek out from behind to see what's happening. It strikes the shield five more times in just a couple seconds, each strike becoming progressively stronger. Then, just as it's rearing up the sixth, it extends both hands outwards and lengthens them to encapsulate the flanks!

Jinpachi reacts quickly turning his shield to the left and blocking one attack while Heidi blocks the other with her sword and scabbard. They both get staggered slightly, but allow Chiziwa an opening! She comes out from behind Jinpachi and whips the beast's neck again, causing the juvenile lotus flowers to go into full bloom and start emitting a visible pollen. She then grabs onto the non-thorny grip of the whip and says, "Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden." Electricity darts through the whip, catching it on fire by the sheer potency and electrocuting the hollow enough to stun it! She lets go of the whip and leaps high into the air, landing on its back just like Heidi and Sasuke had. She proceeds to start dexterously caressing every inch of the hollow's fur with both her hands and feet while whispering, "Hasu no Haha..." The swollen and open pores resembling Lotus seeds start to pop up wherever she touches and eventually cover the monster entirely! She then cartwheels back around and starts the process twice over, touching every single seed until they all bloom into vine-riddled flowers! By the end of the attack when she backflips off, it finds its body becoming severely weak with each passing second.

The hollow only continues to taunt her despite how clearly she has disabled it, " **AH, YES, THAT FEELS WONDERFUL! I LOVE BEING TIED DOWN AND GENTLY GROPED AT ALL ANGLES! HA, PERHAPS I SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THIS DRYAD SUCCUBUS."**

She ignores it, simply staring with scorn emblazoned in her eyes to make sure it knows that it's her bitch. The technique seems to have worked for the most part; it's no longer moving around faster than its body looks like it should be capable of. Its swings are no longer unreasonably fast, its strength no longer overwhelming enough to resist being bound.

" **BUT OF COURSE, YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING OUT OF STEAM, SO IT MATTERS NOT. SURELY YOU DID NOT THINK I WOULD NOT NOTICE YOUR SLOWING PACE, YOUR GRADUAL WEAKENING? NO SHINIGAMI CAN LAY OUT SUCH PUNISHMENT AND STILL BE LEFT STANDING FIRMLY. YOU ARE NO CAPTAIN."**

No matter how right it is, she continues to ignore it and act as if she's okay. In reality, her feet are threatening to buckle under the strain of having used up so much energy. This was a battle of attrition, and this hollow seemed to be winning in spades. Seeing its time to strike, the hollow uses all of its strength to try to slice her right in half by the side! Unfortunately for it, she manages to say "Konoyo no Yokubo" before he even begins the swing. More plant matter overtakes her, and she gains the physical prowess to grab the flats of its blade hand with her own bare hands and stop the impact with only a little trouble, then she proceeds to push the hand back and circle around, grappling it with her entire body and twisting it around!

Not only has her strength been at least doubled from when she had kicked it, but it feels some sort of overwhelming and supernatural pain coursing through its entire arm! The pain is so intense that it causes the arm to go completely numb. It tries to attack her with its other arm like a pair of scissors, but finds that arm being grabbed as well! It turns to see Heidi and Jinpachi both grabbing on tight and pushing as hard as they can on the arm to keep it from moving.

With both arms pinned—

She rips it off. Chiziwa uses every last ounce of her strength left to twist the arm so hard that it breaks, and then she literally rips it out from its socket while screaming like a wild animal! Black blood pours out from the wound but quickly stops. The hollow only sounds minorly inconvenienced, " **THAT ISN'T GOOD. OH WELL, IT WILL GROW BACK."**

And then the other two rip off its other arm.

" **NOW THAT IS JUST RUDE."** It flatly complains to them. After finding itself literally disarmed, it complains further, " **HOW ON EARTH ARE YOU PAWNS SUCH A NUISANCE? IT'S NOT LIKE I'M REALLY TRYING, BUT THIS IS JUST ANNOYING. I ALMOST WISH I HADN'T COME. BUT THAT IS A TRIFLING MATTER; I SHOULD DISPOSE OF THE WEAK."**

It zips its head around to the weakened Chiziwa who reflexively puts up a Kido barrier just in time to block a surprise Cero. However, the point-blank strike is strong enough to destroy the barrier and send her flying into the rubble that then has a minor collapse and nearly crushes her entire lower body, but just ends up trapping her and damaging her foot badly.

It then turns its head to the last couple opposing it and says, " **OUR TIME IS COMING TO A CLOSE, IT SEEMS. AS THE LAST TWO REMAINING, I'M AFRAID I MUST COMPLETELY ELIMINATE YOU."**

As it said, it does its best to fly into the air and manages hovering. There, it starts charging up a Cero while extending its neck far beyond what they first thought it could. It could probably go so far that it could physically attack them even from up high.

Jinpachi puts up his shield and can't help but look a little disappointed that it's going to perform another futile attack. Heidi hides behind it and crouches down, panting and waiting for everything to just be over already. Kokoro comes running into the fray just in time and points her falchion at the hollow, "Nomari no Nami!" A painfully horrible and loud screech fires from the blade in a cone shape, directly at the beast! It cringes hard, but this does not deter it. It continues to charge up its Cero and extend its head.

"Wait, what?" she asks herself, frustrated that it isn't working. She tries another idea, "Ah! Chikara e no Urami!" She swipes her sword to the side while aiming at its neck, creating a transparent distortion in the air; the result of a shockwave. It crashes right into the hollow and grabs its attention. She pumps her arm into the air triumphantly, only to then realize that it's now about to fire a fully-charged Cero at her. She suddenly regrets her heroics and backs up while her eyes go wide. Still smiling, but now in terror. She holds her sword up in front of herself in vain and looks completely ready to pee on herself.

Jinpachi notices what's happening and makes a run for it! He yells at her, "Kokoro, run!" while dashing to her side and dragging Heidi along with him. Now, the hollow catches Heidi out of cover and darts its eyes toward her. Kokoro yells at her to get her attention, summoning another shockwave that crashes into the hollow but does nothing much else. Jinpachi looks up to see its head drawing closer and primed to fire, then stops accordingly and pulls her in, throwing the shield up in the hollow's face! It seems as if it's about to waste its Cero hitting his shield and allowing a counter, but then it snakes around at the last second and pokes around the side!

Kokoro backpedals upon seeing it aiming for them so quickly that she trips and falls on her back. Jinpachi tries to haul the shield around in time, but the hollow follows his movements and fires too quickly! The buckshot fires directly at her and pierces through her stomach, hitting another building behind them with such force that it explodes and collapses the entire thing.

She grits her teeth; not dead yet. Even with several huge holes in her, she merely smiles and takes her sword up, screaming with utter bloodlust with a voice faded and raspy from the injured diaphragm, " **ONE MORE TIME, HIRETSU NA KUSABI! SEN UDE KURIBI!** "

Even with her injuries, the sword listens and gives in to the thought of having one final flash of power. It transforms into a twisted, broken form of its usual appearance and glows a bright red as it is filled with her last bits of Reiatsu. She forcefully pushes Jinpachi away as she smiles at him one last time, then slams her axe down upon the head of the hollow before it can get away!

"HEIDI!" he yells, crying out for her in hopes that she'll stop. Yet, he knows she won't. The only thing he can see before the blinding red light overtakes his vision is a single rose petal falling between them. One moment later, a sweeping wall of red Reiatsu cakes the entire landscape in a similar hue and contrasts only with the darkest of blacks. When the flash is gone, Heidi's body is covered not only in blood but holes as well, the fabric of her clothes torn to shreds and her body slowly giving in. The axe, broken. Its final attack had completely destroyed it.

But it isn't right. When one looks further, they realize that the attack was merely a flash of determination and had no real power behind it. A superficial firework, one could say. The hollow retracts its head, with the mere proof of a large burn mark on its mask. Heidi looks up into the sky and falls backwards with arms outstretched as if to challenge the heavens themselves, and then she hits the ground. "Now, the Valkyrie will come to me..." she whispers to herself as she closes her eyes.

* * *

As soon as she can see what's happening, Kokoro screams as loud as she possibly can, "MAMA!" and stumbles over herself trying to reach Heidi. The scream is so rending that even the nearly unconscious Yumiko a few meters away is forced to shed several tears just from it alone.

While those two are scrambling toward Heidi and panicking over what to do, the hollow is busy not caring about their plight, " **OH DEAR. I ONLY EXPECTED TO MAIM HER, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SHE DID HERSELF IN. MIGHT HAVE LIVED ANOTHER FEW MONTHS IF ONLY SHE HAD RESERVED THAT STRENGTH. OH WELL, TIME TO CLEAN UP."**

Its spear-like legs lengthen themselves until they touch the ground, extending to at least 2 stories. It continues to flap its wings weakly, hovering and walking on its stilt legs towards the two. Jinpachi looks over at it, grabbing Kokoro and raising his shield up and into the air to protect all three of them. "Get under, it's trying to crush us!" he yells.

Just before it can make its way over to them, she dives beneath the shield and watches as he struggles to hold it up under the weight of the hollow's entire body being pressed on them. They can see and hear its legs tapping and pressing, trying their best to push the shield down and if not skewer, crush them. Kokoro grabs onto the chest of his uniform and buries her face into it, sobbing and wailing like a child. He reassures her, "Don't cry, we're going to get out of this alive! We just have to..." he stops and looks up, then back at her "...stay strong."

It continues. Jinpachi finds it difficult to continue holding the shield up and wavers ever-so-slightly due both to the weight and being forced to look down at Heidi's body the entire time.

Finally, she's had enough. Yumiko starts to rise to her feet, vision blurred and darkened to the point that she can barely see what's going on. But she can feel, and she feels for the bracelet on her wrist. She turns the knob on it, setting suppression to 0% while releasing the reserve Reiatsu it had been storing for the entire day. Everyone in the vicinity can feel the sudden burst of power wash over them: Kokoro and Jinpachi cannot help but stare over at her. The hollow stops his crushing to notice her. Chiziwa looks over from under the rubble and smiles, mouthing something inaudible at her.

She rises up, her Reiatsu spilling forth like a filled vessel, dark green in the center and becoming pitch black at the edges. It becomes so overwhelming that the aura she gives off, for at least a moment, even surprises the hollow who had mocked her before. The Reiatsu burst disappears gradually as she draws her bowstring back and aims it squarely at the hollow trying to crush her friends.

" **That's enough. Fuwatari no sosen; Yueki, Hado #1: Sho.** " she says, her entire bow lighting up a bright blue and then materializing a thick arrow of Reiatsu that proceeds to split into no less than 20 other similarly sized sized arrows which float beside her. They all become raging balls of spiritual energy instead of arrows, even becoming slightly transparent.

" **OH, THIS LOOKS BAD."** the hollow says, moments before Yumiko releases her grip and sends the 20+ balls of energy flying so quickly into it that it can barely even react. The force exerted by each of them is so great that it literally sends the beast flying back-first several blocks away. There's a loud, crashing thud in the distance to signal that he did in fact land, and Yumiko takes that as her queue to _try_ to walk towards the others. She goes right past Kokoro and Jinpachi, instead heading for where Chiziwa crashed into. She walks around a bit until she finds the girl still trapped there and uses Ishi Nashi to lift the concrete trapping her, only to find that she's almost completely knocked out. She at least drags the girl out into the open and proceeds to just collapse right there. The only two left conscious and alive are Kokoro and Jinpachi.

She pulls out her Denreishinki and sends an emergency message to everyone in her address book, just hoping one of them will pick it up and come to help. She puts it away and falls back against Jinpachi who has put his shield back down by now and is lying back, both of them completely exhausted both physically and mentally.

Almost immediately, both of them are out cold, thinking that they're safe now that the bastard hollow has been dealt with. However, as Yumiko would find out a few minutes later, this is untrue. In her blurred vision, increasing urge to vomit, and complete paralysis; she sees the silhouette of it just fly right back in front of her and start speaking. She can't hear it, just a bunch of distorted mumbling. She sees it about to reach for Kokoro or Jinpachi, maybe both. She reaches her hand out in a futile attempt to stop it, but something else does. Several other figures appear out of nowhere and confront the hollow.

One, a somewhat tall young man; a shinigami clearly. The only thing she can really make out about him is his bright orange hair and utterly oversized zanpakuto. Beside him, some really short girl in more colorful clothing. Beside her is another person with orange hair, but this time what looks like an older woman. Then another man, this one taller and looking much older than the first but with one giant arm.

Three more appear shortly after: One man in green with a cane, wearing a hat. Beside him are two children, one who appears as a blur of red and the other a darker color, possibly violet. They all start mumbling, but she can't make out anything. She tries to stay awake, but the only thing keeping her up is the last bits of her spiritual power and sheer force of will.

Soon, the hollow menace departs and opens a garganta in the sky, fleeing away from the new group. The last thing Yumiko sees and does is reaching out for the orange-haired man who crouches down to inspect her. Everything fades to black.

* * *

 _ **Well that was a slaughter-fest. Two main characters and one side character dead in the first act, who's gonna be next? Fret not, I'm not yet done with these people even if they are dead! Yumiko really needs to learn how to pace herself. I also can't help but think this would have worked better as a manga.**_

 _ **After blacking out at the end of battle, how will our surviving cast react in the fallout? Will the canon characters actually appear next? Who was the hollow that attacked them? The answers to these questions and more may be answered next time on Bleach: Nikushimi no Ya Act 1, Chapter 9 - Vendetta!**_

 ** _If you enjoy my work, you can find more on my Tumblr page at: darkbeetlebot . tumblr . com_**

 _ **Additionally, it seems as though I've made a forum for this! If you wish to partake in discussions with myself, head over to:**_

 ** _forum/Bleach-Nikushimi-no-Ya-Discussion-Forum/196211/_**

 _ **Go ahead, don't be shy**_


	19. Act 1 CH9: Vendetta

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 9:**

 **VENDETTA**

Her vision is still blurry, body still weak. It had all felt like a dream, so surreal that she can barely even think after leaving her unconscious state. Her mind goes blank for several thoughts, just staring up at the white and indistinguishable ceiling in disbelief towards what just happened. Then, she sees the face of a girl looming over her, hair tied up into a bun. She peers over with a smile; the only feature Yumiko can make out. In seconds, her vision starts to clear up enough for her to notice the meek form of a girl from the 4th Division patching her up.

"Asane?" she guesses the appearance, suddenly feeling something hot welling up in her throat the moment she begins speaking. Almost immediately, visions of the night before assault her memory; namely seeing Kakunaka get brutally murdered right in front of her. She reflexively makes a horrid expression and tosses herself around, lingering over the edge of the bed she's currently in and puking all over the floor with the most wretched heaving sound she could have possibly made.

Still reeling from shock, eyes wide; she can barely hear Asane reaching over and asking what's wrong, "Nishimura!? You're awake? What's the matter? Oh...oh dear..." She only notices the spillage a few moments in and merely looks at the girl with pity.

She gets up and asks one of the practitioners passing by to get a janitor, but immediately sits back down to tend to Yumiko. Her voice is quiet and very gentle, much like Kokoro's, "How do you feel?"

Yumiko looks up at her, a blank stare on her face while her mouth hangs agape from shock. Asane waits for an answer that comes only a half-minute later, "I feel awful."

In the meantime, she had checked her temperature, "You're not hot..."

"I'm not sick." Yumiko immediately denies.

"Worse," Asane tells her "When I was examining you earlier, I discovered that you weren't just physically injured. Something was off, like a piece of your soul itself was missing." She gives a deathly worried look, one of some form of pity.

Yumiko takes a minute to figure out what she's talking about. "Oh, I see..." she smiles to herself "...no need to worry, I just overexerted myself too much. How long has it been?"

Asane shakes her head softly, "Not long, at least compared to your health records. Only a day or so."

"Not bad," Yumiko comments "I went into a coma last time that happened."

"Eh!? Really? I didn't see that anywhere on here..." Asane stifles yelling, placing a hand over her mouth. She starts sifting through her papers seconds later, frantically looking for something she missed.

"You won't find it." Yumiko tells her matter-of-factly.

She gives a quizzical look, "How...?"

"Never reported or documented. It's all a bit complicated." she explains as she rolls over to the side. Asane stares directly at her, about to ask something, but forgets. She ends up just looking at the girl and how utterly defeated and empty her eyes look. The face of someone who is about to utterly give up, who doesn't get enough sleep, who doesn't take care of themselves at all.

She says as much, "You're the type to put others ahead of yourself, aren't you?"

Yumiko doesn't answer. She merely looks up at Asane who takes it back, "No, never mind. Forget that I asked." She continues on a completely different tangent, "So dad tells me that you've been a wonderful subject. I know that doesn't sound good, but that may be the best word he can use."

Yumiko whispers to herself, "Dad? Is that what you're calling the old fish now?"

"Hm?" Asane curiously hums.

She completely ignores the girl, "What happened to the others?"

"Others?" she looks confused.

Yumiko sits up and raises her voice, "Kokoro, Jinpachi, Chiziwa, Heidi! Any of those names ring a bell?"

Asane drops her smile that she had been holding onto the entire time and speaks a bit more softly, "Right, that was the team that was brought back... Sorry, I wasn't the one to work on them. I only requested to work on you."

A silence catches up to them as Yumiko lies back down and sighs heavily, covering her eyes with one hand. Asane stands up and bows to her, "If there's nothing you need, I'll try to find out what happened to them. This shouldn't take long. Try to get some more rest, and don't forget to eat. Take this." She hands Yumiko a bag of chips. "It's not much, but it's what I can spare, personally."

Yumiko nods subtly at her and takes it, only to set it aside. Asane shortly leaves, giving her time to her thoughts.

* * *

She can't stop thinking about the night before. Her mind keeps replaying the same scene of Kakunaka being brutally decapitated over and over, making her feel like puking again each time. There hadn't been a time before where someone's death had affected her this much; an unfamiliar feeling that she wouldn't welcome with open arms at all. To think that she had gotten the freedom she always wanted; just a few steps away from getting back everything she lost so long ago. To think that it was all for naught, taken away at the last moment.

 _"I can't imagine how she felt just then. What did she think at all? That the person she had loved and searched for this entire time killed her? That she had been tricked and was simply a fool to be so hopeful? Did she even get a chance to think? I hope not. I hope it was quick."_

Tears start to roll down from behind her hand as she covers up her face and rolls to the other side. She quietly scolds herself, "Gods, why am I so weak and useless? Can't even save one person." She lies in bed and tosses to both sides alternatingly, unable to find a comfortable position. It's rickety, old, stiff, springy, and generally just not that comfortable. It's made all the worse by the janitor who swings by a moment later and starts cleaning her mess up. The horrendously strong and corrosive smell of bleach fills her nose and eyes, forcing the latter to water excessively as if she were crying.

Just beside her, one male shinigami turns to his side and meets with Yumiko's gaze. He suddenly asks her, "Talk about a familiar face. Aren't you Officer Nishimura?" She frowns at him, having never seen the poor sod's face in her life. His voice is nasaly and slighly annoying.

"I am." she answers reluctantly. "And you are...?"

"Nobody important. Just another nameless soldier, like the rest of us. So what the hell are you doing in a hospital? I though our superiors were supposed to be _way_ stronger than any of us combined!"

Yumiko scoffs at his arrogance, "Oh, we are. It just so happens that my team ran into something even stronger than us. In fact, one died."

"And you're crying about it? Toughen up, people die all of the time." he coldly remarks.

Though it's technically the chemicals, she knows that she really does want to cry. Unable to personally deny it, she scolds his behavior, "You know me and address me as a superior, so that must mean you're from the 13th division. I'm also inferring that you're not an officer since you never gave me a name. If that's the case, I suggest you have a little more respect for the dead before I decide to punish you." She turns to her side and tries to ignore him.

He gets irritated, "Just gonna avoid the issue? Dodge the question? Guess you are just another one, after all."

She becomes irritated as well, "One of them? The _fuck_ is that supposed to mean!?" She turns back around and lifts herself up, only to notice that he's gone. The bed is empty. She flinches, unsure of what to think. "Was that...just my imagination?" she asks herself aloud, then lies back down.

A minute later, Asane comes back. "Alright," she confidently starts "so it looks like everyone returned and were mostly healthy, except one. I'm sure you already know, but..." She sits down and holds onto Yumiko's arm, "Well, Heidi didn't make it. She was gone before we got there."

She can feel Yumiko shiver as soon as she hears the news. Her eyes widen slightly, and the only words she can force out of her mouth are, "What...?"

Asane immediately apologizes, "I'm sorry, did you...not know?"

Yumiko shakes her head slowly, "I was...not very conscious. How...?"

Asane looks down and sifts through the report, "Well, it looks like she just completely ran out of strength, so to speak. Horrible injuries, but she should have still been salvageable with them. The others said that she pushed herself too far."

"Just like I did..." Yumiko comments, more to herself than Asane. Her body starts to tense up, and she feels something get stuck in her throat. A dry, cold feeling like swallowing a box of needles and not being able to feel the pain. Blood being frozen over while still inside, or sprinting a marathon without a single drop of water afterwards. She rolls over towards Asane and tries to subdue a painful and distant stare by gritting her teeth.

Asane decides to continue, "But everyone else is okay. Most got away with minor injuries and were up after we got them back. Oh, and you don't have to worry about filing a report for the mission, it looks like...'Rieko Chiziwa' already did that for you."

Yumiko is at least a little relieved to not also need to do that. "Rieko..." she whispers to herself.

Asane adds, "Oh, and the captain sends his regards. To everyone, actually. I'll just leave the full report here if you want to take a look." She places the folder on the table next to the bed and sits there for a while longer. Quietly, she bends over and gently holds Yumiko's hands, "Are you going to be okay? This is all so—"

Yumiko interrupts her by throwing the blanket aside and slowly sitting up, "I'll be fine. It's not your problem, so don't worry about me." She prepares to stand.

"Oh! Are you leaving?" Asane asks, standing before her. Yumiko nods, and so she elaborates, "I need you to sign a few things, first. You know, just legal stuff."

Yumiko sighs and sits back down. Asane fetches the papers, they're signed in moments without a care in the world, and Yumiko heads off on her own.

* * *

After being dismissed and feeling particularly awful about the whole experience of being awake, she decides to just head to her room and depressedly collapse into bed, maybe lie there for a few days and lock herself in to be doubly sure that nobody will be bothered or bother her.

And then she stumbles upon someone in the middle of the hallway: Rieko Chiziwa. The moment Yumiko sees her, she looks away and tries to pass by as if she were invisible. It doesn't work. Chiziwa carries on like usual but stops when they cross paths and grabs her by the shoulder. Tightly, she doesn't even let Yumiko move from that spot. Yet, she doesn't say anything, she simply stays put and holds her grip there.

Yumiko eventually tries to speak up, "What—?"

"Where are you going?" Chiziwa interrupts immediately. Her tone is stifled, as if she wanted to yell but deliberately held it back.

Hesitantly, Yumiko tells her the truth, "My room." Not being able to look her in the face makes gauging what to say for the desired effect very difficult.

After a second's pause, she responds, "Don't you think there are more important things for you to do?" The words themselves are cold, but the way she says it borders on being warm. "Everyone wanted to see you as soon as you woke up." she adds.

Yumiko tries to lift her hand off but finds the grip only tightening more, the harder she tries. "To scold me?" she guesses distantly.

She immediately feels Rieko's hand tighten around her far harder as she pulls her in. Yumiko instinctively pushes back, but is pleasantly surprised to find that instead of hitting her, she's giving her an extremely tight hug. She even picks Yumiko up to make up for the slight height difference. With Rieko's head resting on her shoulder, she simply gives up and accepts the hug by not fighting back. It carries on for almost a full half-minute, and she eventually starts feeling something wet on her shoulder.

"Chiziwa..." she begins to ask, only to be squeezed even tighter, stifling her breath. "Chiziwa, are you...crying?" she manages to get out.

Rieko chokes on her tears, nodding firmly into her shoulder and starting to loosen her hug until it fades completely. She prepares to speak again, only for Yumiko to hastily attempt to walk away. She grabs onto her arm and tugs it hard while commanding, "Stop."

Yumiko turns around, confused as to what she's trying to do, "What?" She speaks quietly.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know what you're doing, Yumiko. You've done it so many times before, so how couldn't I notice?" Her kind but stern disposition starts to fade and become angry, but the tone of voice still carries distress.

Yumiko still acts dumb, telegraphing herself by looking away and asking again, "What? I...think you've got the wrong idea."

Rieko quickly snaps at her, nearly yelling, "Don't play dumb!" she pauses, holding on more tightly and starting to pull Yumiko back in. She swallows nervously and gives Yumiko the most conflicted expression between anguish and fury that she had ever seen, "You and Kokoro, I love you both _so_ much. But there is one thing that I hate, one thing that both of you share in common, and one thing that I wish would stop..."

She breathes in and out, deeply, but ends up snapping once again and yelling at her when her voice accidentally cracks, "It's that _horrible_ , _self-depreciating_ , _pitiful_ attitude! Why do you always have to blame yourself for everything bad that happens to us!?" More tears start to form, and her voice obviously starts to waver more as she holds back. "You both just sit around, mope, and punish yourselves for no reason! Do you have any idea how painful it is to watch!? Every time it happens, I have to sit back and watch you be in pain, every second _wasted_! Just...!" She prepares to yell again, but calms down and becomes more sullen, weaker. She looks down, "Just _stop_..."

Yumiko is thoroughly shocked, too much to even move. She stands and stares, unsure of what to think. The only thing that can repeat through her head is the question "Why?" over and over.

Rieko tightens her grip again; she starts to raise her voice again, looking more confident than before, "It's not your fault! You did all that you could, but the fact is that it wasn't enough. I'm sorry, but we all made mistakes. When you told us to run, we stayed and fought. When you did everything in your power and became helpless because of it, I tried to take over! When Heidi was hurt, she decided to act like a hero and get herself _killed_ over _all else_ when she might have survived if she hadn't! That other girl was short-sighted enough to be tricked by a hollow and _died_ for it! Jinpachi was too slow, Kokoro was too weak, and we were _all_ so in over our heads that it's a miracle any of us _survived_! It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself again, _please!_ " By the end of the sentence, her legs are visibly shaking, and her tone has gone from righteous anger to pleading breathlessly. She starts to gasp for air after the huge mouthful.

Yumiko is still baffled by the outburst and what's happening in front of her in general. All she can do is repeat what Rieko just said, in her head, until it starts to click. Before she can finish, Rieko apologizes.

"I'm sorry for yelling, but I know that if I don't, I won't get it through that stubborn skull of yours." She starts to smile reluctantly but genuinely, wiping away the tears from her cheek and sniffling. "This is going to seem completely off-track, but this has kind of taught me something..."

She makes her way towards Yumiko and picks her up again, "No matter how long our lives might be able to be, we can still die at any moment without even seeing it coming. It made me think that if I don't take what I want now, I may never get it _at all_. That's true about the living people, too. I guess it took being scared to death to convince me that we don't really have all of the time in the world."

She stares directly at Yumiko, into her eyes, and gives her a sorrow-filled smile that betrays an intense and warm fondness. The stare itself is too much, and Yumiko must look away lest she snap too. It doesn't stop Rieko, who nudges her to look back with just a couple fingers. Yumiko whispers to her, "Too close..."

Rieko ignores her. Her smile fades, becoming a nervous frown. A minor blush forms in her cheeks as she closes in, hugging Yumiko closely and looming over her ever-so-slightly. Yumiko's eyes go wide as their lips meet, but she doesn't fight, she simply lets it happen. Her mind goes completely blank, and a cold but wondrous shiver is sent up her spine.

Rieko's lips are big and soft, like being smothered by a marshmallow. It's unlike anything she's ever felt before, in a good but extremely confusing sort of way. One half of her is conflicted by the fact that Rieko is a girl, but the other completely drowning in how wonderful it simply _feels_. Not just that, but it feels...comforting. Somehow, subconsciously, it feels not just like an admittance of attraction but of deep and withheld affection that had been compressed from coal into diamond by the sheer pressure it was built under. An odd feeling of being desired, more fulfilling than desiring something by oneself.

She doesn't give time to think. Rieko digs her fingers in tightly, deepening it from the mere surface level and into something more obviously meaningful and desperate. She starts grasping, curling in and completely dominating Yumiko's comparatively weaker body. She can't fight back, and so she doesn't. Instead, she becomes completely intoxicated by the flowery woman's aroma, which smells of Lilies. Faint, possibly drowned out by the nervous sweat, but enhanced by the sheer euphoria she's experiencing from being so intimately close with another person.

She suddenly feels the girl's tongue trying to prod its way in. It may, but Yumiko retracts hers and suddenly loses that comfortable feeling, being replaced by nervousness and over-consciousness of the situation. Her eyes widen again and she reflexively pulls back, acting coi. Rieko reacts suddenly, pulling out of the kiss and letting go without a second thought. She backs up while Yumiko nearly collapses to her knees from weakness. They both pant heavily and have to take a moment's break in silence to recover.

Yumiko eventually stands up and asks with a confused but cute expression and an uncharacteristically shy tone, "What...was that?"

Rieko blushes again and nearly looks away, but resolves to answer simply and keep staring, "Kiss..."

She stands there motionlessly again, "But...we're both—"

Rieko lunges forward and cups her hand over Yumiko's mouth to silence her. " _Don't_." she firmly commands. "Don't say it. Don't you _dare_ say it..." She waits for the message to sink in, face hidden behind her bangs, head tilted down, and even carefully turned away as she stands back up and faces the opposite direction. They stand there in an awkward silence, Yumiko stuck simply staring at Rieko's back the whole time and wondering what just happened.

Eventually, Rieko concedes to the finality and begins to walk away while saying, "I need to do something. Kokoro needs you, go see her."

Nothing else is said as she rounds the next corner. Yumiko stands in the hall, slowly turning and heading the opposite way while covering her mouth and staring at the floor in deep thought, brows furrowed with intense concentration.

* * *

Eventually, Yumiko happens upon Kumi's room where they usually hang out. She looks to her side at it and thinks that perhaps Kokoro is there, given that she's the type to seek company. She approaches and enters slowly, whereupon she spies a sleepy-looking Kokoro who immediately springs up when she hears the door.

"Yumi!?" she gasps, her face suddenly overcome with obvious relief. Kumi Kaneko, who is merely glancing back at Yumiko, shrugs and tips her glass-less glasses.

Yumiko steps in completely, though a little hesitantly. She awkwardly smiles and waves, "Ah, Kokoro—"

But before she can finish her sentence, the clumsy girl has lept up and tried to sprint towards Yumiko. Only, she nearly trips over both the table and herself. She eventually succeeds and nearly dives into Yumiko's arms, then nuzzles into and hugs her voraciously as if this were the first time they were meeting in a year.

Yumiko struggles against her, trying to push the overly excited girl back, "Eh, Kokoro! Stop, you're going to knock both of us down! Come on, just..." And then she becomes aware of Kokoro's immense breasts squishing against her. Then she remembers back several minutes ago to Rieko, and she immediately loses focus on the current situation.

Kokoro finishes being hyper-affectionate a moment later, becoming sentimental and teary-eyed, "Yumii! Don't ever do that again!" She sounds almost angry.

"Eh?" Yumiko snaps back to reality "Do what?"

"Yuumii!" Kokoro continues to whine "First you got this scary look, and then you went and blew everything up but it was still alive, and then I had to carry you away and you collapsed and wouldn't say anything, and then—" she pauses and gasps for air. Yumiko tries to interrupt with a slightly concerned expression, but Kokoro continues anyways, "And then everyone got knocked out, and we couldn't do anything, and you just wouldn't stop trying to go back even though I told you not to, and then Heidi..."

She pauses; hesitates. Yumiko expects her to start completely losing it seeing as how she's already crying her eyes out, but she just skips over that part, "And then it tried to kill us, and Rieko got beat up, and then you got back up and tried to shoot it again and it disappeared, and you passed out, and then...then we did, and then the rescue team came and got everybody. You wouldn't move at all, I thought you were dead! I-I..."

Before she can keep going Yumiko grabs her by the cheeks and firmly commands her, nearly yelling, "Kokoro. _Calm. Down._ I'm okay. I'm standing right here, so just...stop freaking out. Everything is going to be okay, 'right?"

Kokoro sniffles and looks up at Yumiko, then looks down and hugs her again. "I...don't know. I don't know what to do. She's gone, Yumi. Just like..."

Unable to stand any longer, she collapses onto her knees. Yumiko follows her, pulling her into an empathetic embrace. Kokoro returns it and begins desperately sobbing into her shoulder. Even the usually apathetic Kumi turns herself around entirely and stares at the two with utter pity alight in her eyes. Yumiko senses her and turns her head so that their gazes meet. Kumi doesn't react. She continues to stare, and they silently nod to each other. She doesn't quite understand how she knows, but Yumiko gets some sort of deeply appreciated sentiment from her.

It takes several straight minutes, but Kokoro eventually lets go. She scoots backwards slowly, still looking down at the ground, but briefly back up at Yumiko every now and then. She simply stares down at the poor girl with dark and flat eyes. The two eventually start staring wordlessly at each other, unable to figure out what to do next.

So instead, Yumiko starts to think to herself, _"She looks kind like I did...or must have. When I look at her, I feel like I did when I got out of bed. It must be how she feels as well. Not entirely, but... Anyways, how the hell do I fix this? Really gets me when she's all depressed like this. But what would cheer her up? Most of what we do, we only do it because we're already happy. She not usually like this, or at least hasn't been in a long time. I know back in the academy she got sad pretty easily. Well, at night. But all I did was hug her back then,and I already did that. Maybe... Well, kissing Rieko kind of made me forget about everything. That was nice while it lasted. I'm sure it won't mean anything, so..."_

And subconsciously, she's been getting closer and looking Kokoro up and down for the entire monologue. Kokoro speaks up as soon as she gets just a bit too close, "Um, Yumi? What are you doing?"

Yumiko pats and rubs her head like a small animal, then tries to kiss her. But, Kokoro pushes back and denies her, "Yumi, come on! What are you trying to do!?"

Yumiko snaps out of her daze, "Oh, sorry. I just thought something like that would cheer you up."

"...What!?" Kokoro yells dumbfoundedly, "What gave you that idea? The Yumi I know would never get that intimate with someone just like that!"

Yumiko explains passingly, as if to underplay it, "Oh, well that's how I felt. Er, Rieko passed me by in the halls. A few things happened, and she ended up kissing me. I thought it was kind of nice and peaceful, so..."

"She _WHAT_!?" Kokoro stands up quickly and screams, causing Kumi to nearly jump out of her seat and stare at the small girl with a frightened expression.

"Huh?" Yumiko wonders, giving Kokoro a confused stare with her mouth agape.

"I _told_ her to...! We agreed on this, dammit!" Kokoro complains, ripping her denreishinki out of her uniform and fiddling with it. She starts to aggressively march out of the room and takes Yumiko's hand with her, "Yumi, my room! Now!"

As Yumiko gets dragged out, Kumi turns to her and does the neck-slitting gesture with a clearly concerned stare as if something really bad was about to happen which she intended to avoid at all costs.

Kokoro's room is fairly sparse, just like Yumiko's. No real decorations besides a couple well-tended flowers in pots on top of her dresser, an old CRT television, and a Sega Genesis on the floor in front of it, both at the foot of her bed. This is all Yumiko has time to take in before Kokoro starts up again, this time in an extremely agitated and subtly disappointed tone, "Okay, Yumi, I need you to be very honest with me. What did she do?"

Yumiko becomes slightly defensive and begins by dodging the question, "Now, now...calm down. It isn't like you to get like this, Kokoro."

She grabs both sides of her head and pulls her hair slowly, then twirls at a similar pace for a moment. She grabs onto Yumiko's shoulders and insists more quietly, "This is serious. Tell me."

Yumiko inhales sharply, then briefly explains, "Well, we stopped in the hallway. She went on this long rant about some personal things, and I wasn't really sure what was happening. She gave this...look, I guess. I never saw anything like it before, and then she just sort of...did it? She just held on tight and kissed me."

"On the lips?" Kokoro interrupts.

"What? Yes, the lips." Yumiko wonders why she asks, but doesn't ask, herself. "So she did that, and then it got kind of intense so I had to push her back. She got weird after that and ran off."

Kokoro mostly ignores the details and sternly asks, "But did she force it?"

"Uh..." Yumiko raises her brows again "...I mean, technically yes. But—"

No buts, apparently. Kokoro immediately yells, "Oh my _GOD!_ That _stupid_...!" She pulls her phone back up and starts to dial a number while turning around.

"Kokoro?" Yumiko prods, trying to see who she's calling. "Kokoro, it's okay, really. Don't—"

She dials anyways, and it picks up quickly. " _WHY!?_ " Kokoro screams at the phone "Why do you do these things!? I told you...!"

Rieko seems to be pleading her case on the other end, by the panicky tone Yumiko can hear. Kokoro is having none of it and keeps raging, "I don't _care_! You—"

"..."

Kokoro suddenly yells again, " _Fuck_ you!"

Yumiko throws her hands up, open, defensively, and takes a step back. The argument continues, "No, you listen! Wanna know why I'm mad!? Because you can't control yourself! Do you want to be thrown out again!?"

Before she can continue, Yumiko clearly hears Rieko crying on the other end and decides it's enough. She interrupts by grabbing Kokoro's wrist and saying so, "Stop. That's enough."

Though she tries to pull the phone out of her hands, Kokoro becomes surprisingly strong and puts of a valiant struggle. "No!" she yells, stubbornly keeping the thing away.

"It's okay, just calm down and..." Yumiko instead decides to push her onto the ground and plant a foot on her chest, then grab the phone that way. It proves much easier. "There." she says as she holds it up to her ear and can faintly hear Rieko sniffling on the other end. Kokoro is still struggling to get it back but eventually gives up under Yumiko's superior position.

"Hello?" she asks.

"Yumiko?" Rieko hopefully asks back.

Yumiko calmly responds, "Yeah. Listen, sorry about Kokoro. Didn't think she would...do this. Anyways, I just need to think about things for a while. Don't worry about it. Now for this troublesome one..."

"Wait, I—"

Yumiko hangs up and throws the phone on the bed. She sits down on top of Kokoro and gives her a stern stare. She looks away, unwilling to see it. Nevertheless, Yumiko speaks, "Kokoro, what did I tell you about getting angry?"

She doesn't respond. Looks away with a guilty frown.

Yumiko sighs, "Back in the academy, when you studied for that test for a week straight and still failed it horribly. Remember?"

She refuses to say it.

"When you almost got expelled for using kido on the teacher? 'Don't be...'?" She tumbles her hand around, signalling for Kokoro to finish.

She doesn't. "I'm sorry..." she apologizes instead, starting to tear up.

"Say it with me..." Yumiko asks of her "...'Don't be...'"

Kokoro just pouts. Yumiko sits on top of her and stares intently until she finally gives in and they say it slowly.

"Rash..."

Yumiko stands up and lifts her up to her feet, "Don't be rash. When you get angry, you do some very, _very_ stupid things. And what just happened was _not_ a good idea."

Kokoro looks away, down at the ground. Yumiko groans and approaches her for a hug, "I know you're stressed out and this is the last thing you want to go through right now. I am too, and it's all very sudden."

She turns the girl around and grabs her by the shoulders, then looks her directly in the eye and speaks carefully, "But I don't to lose any more friends right now. Don't get angry at her, I'm not. Like I said, it's okay; I just need to think things through. That goes for you, too." She pats Kokoro once on the shoulder and heads for the door.

"Think about things?" Kokoro asks in a depressed tone.

"Yes." Yumiko confirms. "Sorry, but I need to go. Get out of this place for a while and just...think. I need a break; all of us do. Do everyone a favor and request vacation for the whole group. I'm sure they'll understand."

"But...!" Kokoro tries to reach out for her.

"Stop." she denies. "I'm doing this. It's for me and nobody else. Sometimes I just need to do things alone, so please cling to somebody else for now. I'm sure Jinpachi could use the company."

Without looking back to see Kokoro's completely defeated face, she walks out of the room and closes the door behind her. She turns towards the other end of the hallway, only to see Kumi standing there against the wall and apparently waiting for them to finish.

"Pain is necessary, sometimes." Yumiko states as she walks by the girl, who then grabs her sleeve. She stops and turns around.

"Here." Kumi offers her a pouch full of money. "My treat. Just bring back a souvenir or something."

"I thought you were broke." Yumiko quips.

Kumi walks back to her room while rolling her eyes, "Oh, fuck off."

Yumiko gives her the most smug smile possible and simply replies, "Heh."

* * *

 _ **I deeply apologize for how late this chapter is. Should have been posted on the first of December, but I ended up having to wait until the end of January due to losing internet. Even now, I'm only able to submit it by borrowing someone's phone data.**_

 ** _I didn't really expect to start the romance subplot this early, but I guess shit happens. The opportunity exposed itself, so I just went for it. So what's going to happen next? I also apologize for getting everyone hyped up about seeing the OCs with the main cast. You'll get it soon, don't worry. After a short break, we have the entirety of the Soul Society arc to run through! What fun having to re-watch that entire thing will be. That was sarcasm, by the way. I'm actually dreading it despite knowing it's good. Will need to tweak a lot, so the second act may be a late bud. You may have also noticed that I recently renamed the fic from Kirai Yajirushi to Nikushimi no Ya. Hopefully it doesn't confuse too many people. It's just that the previous title was incorrectly translated, and this one is correct. Thanks to Akugitsune328 for the help with the translation fixes. Most of the Japanese should be accurate now, relatively speaking._**

 ** _So next time on Nikushimi no Ya: Act 1, Chapter 10 - Welling Up. The final chapter for the first act is finally coming. Will Yumiko make any progress with her zanpakuto in time for the Ryoka invasion? Stay tuned to find out!_**


	20. Act 1 CH10: Welling Up

**ACT 1:**

 **NOSTALGIC HATRED**

 **CHAPTER 10:**

 **WELLING UP**

"Huh. Four hours; new record." Yumiko is impressed with herself as she strolls the streets of her old home of West Rukongai 32nd District. Before heading out from the barracks, she had taken a spare piece of completely unflattering cloth to wrap around her head in a Kerchief, hopefully make herself look more humble amongst the less fortunate souls. Maybe even slip past unnoticed and get to her old hiding spot in relative peace.

It didn't work. Not only would they have recognized her arm medal on-sight, but nobody there would forget the face of a local hero. The Shihakusho doesn't help. All things considered, it was a pretty poor disguise. Not that she couldn't tell, as people were audibly whispering to each other that she had finally returned...again.

"Nishimura-koken is back!" some said, others referring to her by her given name. Even fewer actually referring to her as some sort of chosen one.

"She'll protect us, right?" some asked, apparently expecting a bit too much.

And finally, the stares. From crowds, not just individuals. One glance at her arm in the general vicinity of her de facto hometown caused people to throw their attention squarely at her like a pack of hungry (or at least very desperate) wolves.

The first person to come to her personally is a young man in what can only be described as jury-rigged lamellar armor made from wooden planks. Those, being decorated with a couple gaudy medal badges not unlike Yumiko's. He salutes her, making her stop still in her tracks and gaze upon his povertous attire in bewilderment, in turn tuning out what he says next, "Nishimura-koken, welcome back!"

He extends his hand out for a shake, "It's an honor to finally meet you! I was out on patrol when you last visited, so we couldn't meet."

Yumiko shakes out of her daze enough to stare at the man and ask in deadpan, "And...who are you?"

He looks completely devastated. "What?" he asks rhetorically. "Surely someone mentioned me, Homeland Defense General Hirotane Ishii!"

"Nope." she simply answers.

"What?" he asks again. "Nobody...mentioned me at all?"

"Nobody..." she says, quickly amending her statement "...but you said 'Homeland Defense General'? You're the one in charge of the militia?"

He at least seems relieved by the minor recognition, "O-Oh, yes! I am!"

Yumiko continues forth while they talk. "So how is that going? If nobody died, it would be better than I could pull off." she says pessimistically.

He gets thrown off and hesitates, "I'm...sure that's not true! Besides, some casualties are...unavoidable. Plenty of men and women die to protect this place, but it's all for a better cause."

Yumiko falls quiet, looks down in some sort of deep thought. Not for long, as he interrupts a minute later, "So you're back. Any reason? I though shinigami were supposed to have busy schedules."

Yumiko sighs, "Things happened. I needed a vacation. I only came came here to get some peace and try to meditate on this... _cursed_ sword."

"Cursed?" he asks.

"This thing hates me." she explains briefly.

"Well, I don't know anything about that. Need a place to stay?"

She passes, "No, I'm going to old hideout."

"The _shack?_ " he says in disbelief "Well, I won't criticize you, but are you sure you don't need anything?"

"Yes." She glances over at him, stopping cold in her tracks. "Hey, stay still. Face me." she commands, pulling out her sword and shortening it.

He freezes up as if she's about to mug him, but instead she just bends over towards the chestpiece of his armor and starts slowly carving something into it. Takes a minute, but she eventually finishes and sheathes the sword. "There. Hope that makes up for the disappointing experience."

"Eh?" he wonders, pulling up his chestpiece to see what she put on it while she simply walks away. He looks back, "Eh!?" and then runs over to a pedestrian to ask what it says.

A middle-aged man comes up and answers, "It says... Hey, hey! That's Nishimura-koken's autograph!"

Everyone around him awes in amazement, saying things like, "Oh, what!?", "So cool!", "You lucky bastard!", and "I want one too!"

Meanwhile, Yumiko walks away without looking back while holding the biggest, smuggest grin she can muster. Self esteem +2.

Just a little while later, she finally arrives back at her tiny shack, hiding in plain sight on the side of the street. There, she waltzes right in and tosses everything she has but the sword to the side like garbage, then sits down in a lotus position with it across her lap. _"Well, nobody should bother me here. At least for a little while. But I guess I should at least suppress the weaker hollows a little..."_

And so, she tries to exert enough presence to keep those away from her general vicinity while she goes into meditation. It takes a while.

* * *

 **"Why are you here?"** A familiar, distorted voice asks her.

Yumiko, standing in the middle of the giant pool of black water that is her inner realm, answers firmly, " **You already know.** "

 **"And you must not know your own unworthiness."** it retorts, the female voice becoming dominant for a moment.

" _What?_ " Yumiko says, becoming tired of this doll's shit.

 **"Tell me what it is you seek."** it demands of her.

Playing along, she sighs and answers, "I've come to pursue my true potential. I've come for my Bankai."

 **"Is that what you truly seek?"**

"Yes. What else would I come all the way here for?"

 **"You speak only to your shell, now."** it cryptically comments.

Yumiko's voice gains a slight agitated sting, " _What?_ "

It ignores her, **"Why do you wish to learn?"**

Yumiko stops and suddenly looks stupefied. She stares down at the ground and thinks, _"Why? I mean, it seems pretty simple, but this is probably a trick question. Rather than what I want to say, what does it want to hear? But...I can't. And besides, it probably already knows what I'm thinking..."_

She looks up at it with scorn, seeing its expressionless and silent form mocking her with its mere existence. _"Shit."_ she thinks _"I can't do this, can I? I just need to answer honestly, I guess."_

She clears her throat and stands up straight for her answer, "The reason I want to learn Bankai...is so that I can protect my friends!"

The realm falls silent. Yumiko stands amidst it, in front of the entity which desired her answer yet does not respond to it. For a long minute, she waits with an indescribable pit in her stomach from the sheer, palpable dread of how it will respond.

Finally, its head twists to the side while it answers, **"To...protect your friends? You mean, the friends who you allowed to nearly fall at the hands of that hollow? The ones you left behind out of fear and vengeance?"**

Yumiko throws her head down and grits her teeth while she murmurs, "Shut the _fuck up._ "

It continues, **"Your title, the one given by the grateful, the name of protector: How less of a fitting title could you possibly have? You protect nothing. You wallow in your own eventual graveyard and continue to act as a useless pawn in the schemes of others."**

She clenches her fists, "I said _shut up!_ "

 **"And that rebellious attitude of yours, does it not seek the validation of those you hate? You curse me, and I curse you; yet, you seek me for power. You defied the law of gods, and then to gain more power, you bent your knee to them and asked for favor while begrudging your unnecessary actions as their fault."**

It pauses, but she doesn't speak. It forces her to with a question, **"And what is a friend to you, hypocrite?"**

She nearly whispers, "I... The people that I love, who love me back. Who—"

It interrupts, **"And you think that this 'love' is mutual? After each failure, did you not think that some animosity could breed? Did you not witness, firsthand, the hatred boiling within them?"**

She quietly argues, "That...wasn't hatred. I..."

It interrupts again, **"'...don't know what it is.'?"** It twists its head.

She lifts her head up and glares at it more fiercely than any before it, but without a word.

 **"Weak."** it mocks **"How weak could you possibly be?"**

Again, she is provoked, "I am not weak!"

 **"Your answer was all of the proof I needed."** it claims **"All that is left is for you to realize it. Weak."** It suddenly teleports directly in front of her and fixes its form to a more solid shape. Its face is still featureless but stares at her regardless. She finds herself unable to look away as two parts of its head start to rattle around.

Then, two wooden eyes so open that they border on the surreal roll back from the inside of its ceramic head, grinding the clay in an ear-gutting screech. Yumiko's own eyes widen, her body tenses up and won't allow her to move. She can't look away despite how desperately she wants to.

 **"WEAK."** its voice booms at her.

Instantly, she tears up. Her face curls into intense and unexplainable fear while she finds herself crying against her will. Finally able to move, she backs up and screams gutturally.

"What the hell are you doing to me!?" she continues to scream, holding her face and trying to wipe the still-coming tears away.

 **"Weak."** it repeats. Yumiko growls and throws water at it to no effect. **"And to protect them, what do you intend to do? Become stronger? To surround them and smother them with your might so that they may never leave into the dangerous outside world? Will you gild their cages in gold and pretty gems to distract them from the boulder that you use their unconscious bodies to help you hold up? That boulder which you made, yourself, is your own responsibility and not theirs. Don't you think it's unfair? Don't you realize the truth?"**

Yumiko looks up at it, trying to figure its meaning, _"Truth? To protect them... To burden them with myself... The only other option is to...not be? To be is dangerous, so...to not be. That means..."_

She quickly stands back up and defies every thought, "No! I'll never abandon them for that half-assed philosophy! Rieko even told me that, they need me and want me!"

 **"And what does she know? She was the one who failed in your absence; no better than you are."**

She stops talking, but thinks, _"You...you bastard!"_

 **"You will lift that boulder..."** it begins to speak in prophecy **"...and you will roll it up the grandest mountain in the world, only for it to reach the top and roll back upon you. You, and all who come behind you."**

She scowls at it again, bites her tongue despite wanting to curse it more. It continues, **"Isn't it all pointless? One day, they will leave you anyways. You cannot protect them from their ultimate fate. Nothing can. Look upon your reflection in the abyss, for you know it to be true."**

She drops to her knees again and plants her hands into the water. _"Strange..."_ she thinks _"Is it...deeper than last time?"_ Her mind begins to wander as she searches for a reflection. From what should be a purely reflective lake of black, she sees nothing but more black. No reflection of her exists, only the sinking hands in front of her that she stares down upon and grasps the featureless plane with. "No..." she starts to sob, a feeling overwhelming doom hanging above her head "...I can't let it. I must protect them, no matter what." She tries to stand, but can barely lift her back up.

 **"You still desire that power, knowing that it will destroy all that you love?"** it asks.

She hesitates, "...Yes."

No answer. Eventually, she looks up from the black water to find the doll having vanished. In its place, is...

"...Is that...me?" she wonders, reaching out towards her apparent doppelganger standing in front of her.

Suddenly, it looks up with a snap in its neck. Where its face should be is only a massive, black hole that seems to eternally deepen itself the longer one stares into it. She catches herself becoming mesmerized by the black hole for one moment too long and recoils, trying to look away only to be met with a swift kick to the stomach.

"The fuck...!?" she gasps for air just as it's kicked out of her. She nearly slumps over onto the ground from the sheer force of the kick, but manages to stay standing from sheer force of will. Merely out of instinct, she lashes out and beats the doppel in the chest several times, as hard as she can possibly punch. It takes every single one and falls to the ground, allowing her to stomp on it repeatedly until it stop moving.

"What...the hell was that—" she tries to contemplate, but then it just gets right back up and slams her into the water again! It stands there above her as if she had never even hurt it, motionless; awaiting her next move.

Wordlessly, she curls back and launches herself at it from prone position! The kick sends it flying backwards, but it still appears to be completely unfazed afterwards. Now standing, Yumiko reaches to her side and finds that her sword is thankfully there while the doppel has no weapon to speak of. She draws and charges at it, impaling it through the stomach so deeply that no mortal being could hope to survive.

Yet, it does. **"Weak."** it scolds her in the feminine-dominant voice.

Yumiko rips the sword out of its body, only to see that it has left no mark whatsoever. She takes a kendo stance and quickly slams the blade down on its head, splitting it in two!

 **"Idiot."** it continues to mock, voice reverberating as if several others had spoken. Once the sword is ripped out again, its head reforms instantly.

 **"IdIoT."** its voice becomes more distorted as it starts to approach her. She backpedals quickly, but not enough. It manages to grab ahold of her while the voices continue to repeat that single phrase more and more quickly. It starts to squeeze her head like a vice, twisting it far harder than it should ever be handled.

Yumiko practically panics, grabbing one of its wrists and trying to frantically pry it away while stabbing it repeatedly in the chest! She grits her teeth and looks on in abject horror while it resists all of her efforts and slowly twists her head around until it starts to creak.

"No, no, no, _no, no, NO, NO!_ _ **NOOOOOOO!**_ " she continues to panic and scream louder as it gets closer and closer. Finally, after several painful seconds, it completely overpowers her and breaks her neck like a mere toothpick, as if it had been merely waiting for her to give up before it even tried. She falls completely limp, but only for a second.

Instead of dying, her neck snaps right back into place in just a few moments as if nothing had happened. She kicks against the ground madly and struggles to get up while still visibly freaked out. She desperately starts grabbing for her sword but finds it nowhere. Finally, she starts to pat her head and neck repeatedly to make sure it isn't still broken. It's not. Everything is fine. Except for that... _"...thing."_

Without the weapon, she simply relies on her fists to do the work. "Come at me!" she provokes it. "If I have to beat you to get what I want, then so be it!" She puts her fists up and quickly closes in on the doppel while it too prepares for a long and arduous battle.

* * *

 _"How long..."_ Yumiko thinks as she gets slowly and mercilessly kicked around by the doppel _"...how long have I been in here? It must be hours. No, days. Weeks. No... No, no, no, no. Nothing is right. Nothing is right anymore. This can't be happening. It's just wasting my time, right? It couldn't possibly be this hopeless. Why do I need power to get more power? Why do I need to get stronger to get stronger? Why...why is it just an endless circle of self-fulfilling shit!?"_

She takes a particularly nasty punch to the face that sends her into the water again and ends her train of thought. _"Fuck... Just what the hell is wrong with me, anyways?"_

It picks her up out of the water and throws her right back in, as if to taunt her. She doesn't react. Nor the second time, or the third.

 _"This is punishment, isn't it? No matter how hard I try, it's never good enough for you. Why? I hate you. I hate you more than even that hollow. If not for your shit, I could have saved them. I could have—"_

It kicks her in the gut hard enough to interrupt her thoughts again. "Shit..." she groans.

 _"This isn't fair. I can't even do anything. I can't win. Might as well give up. I said, 'no matter how long it takes', but this is never going to end, is it? Never... Never going to end..."_

She tries to get up again, but this time the doppel seems rather malicious. It stomps directly on her back and forces her into the black water. She manages to lift her head back up for a moment to gasp for air and hold it, but the doppel forces her right back down and steps on her head to make sure she doesn't get back up.

It's completely black. The water should at least be a little transparent, but instead she's met with a complete and utter blindness. Can't even see her own body, nor the surface she's being pushed against. Nothing but a black abyss. Despite that it should hurt, she can't even feel it stinging her eyes.

Almost half a minute passes while she continues to thrash her entire body about, kicking and trying to pry the doppel's leg off with no success. It pushes down harder and harder, almost crushing it like a nut. Time is up. Suddenly, her body forces her to inhale. In that very moment, she completely loses her composure and panics, flailing about while torrents of the black liquid flood her nostrils and mouth in that very instant. She tries to scream, but the voice is muffled and only bubbles of air come out to rise to the surface, popping and letting out her failed screams.

Her mind starts to go completely dark, focused only on the sole goal of survival. An almost primal instinct that makes her choke vigorously in an attempt to evacuate the water from her throat, but it only serves to suffocate her faster. Her flailing about is no longer aimed at the doppel, but completely volatile and desperate, grasping in futility for anything to help. The doppel forces its entire weight on her and crouches down, sitting on her and merely observing as she drowns. It whispers bitter nothings into her ignorant ear.

Every time she tries to scream, the coughing only becomes more violent until her throat starts to burn as if sat on fire. Slowly but surely, her lungs begin to fill and blacken, with her completely able to feel her chest getting heavier and heavier. Not just the sensation of drowning anymore, but the sensation of literally becoming a part of the water, itself. In time, she doesn't even have the strength to cough or fight back anymore. Her body settles itself while her screaming fades into an absolute and eerie silence.

Yet, she isn't dead. At least, not literally. Still conscious. Still able to feel everything, and now able to clearly think now that the pain has begun to fade and the sedation has set in. She can still feel the weight of her body being full of water and the doppel sitting on her back, but can't do anything about it.

She can finally think, _"Was that...death? Is this what it feels like? I...failed again. Failed to fight for my own life. But I'm still here, so why? Why is this happening? I can't even feel anything anymore..."_

Indeed, her body had gone completely numb. Now, not even the sensation of weight or the wetness of the water is present. _"It's as if...nothing exists. Not here, not right now. Nothing but me. Nothing but me..."_ Unable to see anything, she closes her eyes and becomes completely enraptured in the feeling.

" _No, I know this. The first time I went here and took that test, it put me here. A place where nothing is felt, where nothing exists but myself. A 'Sensory Depravation Chamber'. But that time, it was different. It was sudden, and started to drive me crazy after a while. But this... I could actually get used to this. It's peaceful. Quiet and peaceful. I wonder if this is what I always wanted. That the rest of everything was just a farce, just something to occupy my time. If I just stayed here, nothing would bother me anymore, right? It might be boring, but it has to be better than that hell."_

Slowly, she settles in. Her entire body relaxes and allows itself to be consumed by the all-encompassing emptiness.

" _I couldn't become stronger. If I'm not worthy; if I can't even do that, then there must not be much of a point to continue trying. If I just leave and never come back, they'll never be thrown into my problems again. Maybe that doll is right. The more I think about it...the more it makes sense. I was just blurting out answers without thinking, after all. If this is a test, I don't even know if I passed or not. ...Whatever."_

More silence overcomes her mind. That is, until she finds her thoughts wandering back to her friends. She remembers their faces one by one, each becoming more nostalgic. But when she remembers Taeko and Heidi, — who she had blocked out before everyone else — it triggers something.

" _That's right...they're gone, now. I failed, and so they died. And Rieko — poor girl — takes on the blame for me. She's too kind, always taking my side and wanting to shoulder the burden for my honest mistakes. I can't allow you to do that again, so..."_

And then it hits her, _"...But who would do that? Kokoro is too shy to point it out. Kumi is too apathetic and would ignore her. Jinpachi is nice and direct, but too daft to notice those things. He needs someone too, but Kokoro does that..."_

And it hits harder, _"But Kokoro doesn't have anyone, does she? She relies on me so much, and even when we were apart, she was constantly thinking about me. If that sort of thing were permanent...what would she do? I can only think of one thing, but..."_

The mere thought of what she might do makes her mentally cringe, _"And Rieko too...she did_ _ **that**_ _. After that, can I just disappear? I would hate it if I never got an answer to the question that was bothering me for months or years. No, I know that for a fact. I went through that. Every day in the other squads, worrying about Kokoro and what she was doing, whether she was dead or alive or would ever contact me again. If I never saw her again... Oh, gods..."_ She nearly chokes on herself at the thought.

" _No..."_ she resolves _"No matter how much I may deserve this, or how much peace it would bring, I can't do that. I can't just_ _ **leave them!**_ _"_

Suddenly, her entire body springs to life! Her hands slam into the ground with enough force to nearly shatter the glass floor, and she begins to lift herself up with strength that she didn't have even when fighting the doppel, earlier. It begins to feel her trying to lift up and exerts more force to try to keep her down, but she just keeps pushing!

Finally, as her head lifts itself out of the water and she crawls on all fours enough to shake the doppel off, she vomits the black water from her mouth and nose in a horrific retch. She crawls onto her knees and props herself up with both hands, growling and retching like a dying animal again. Twice more, each with even greater intensity than the last, and so fiercely intimidating that even the emotionless doppel steps backwards and thinks twice before trying to attack her.

Finally, she vomits the rest of the water out of her system and stares up into the black abyss, letting out a guttural, blood-curdling, and primal scream of abject rage. Not only does the black water spew from her mouth and nose, but her eyes and ears as well. Every single part of her body is leaking it without pause, even as she stands to her feet without trouble and turns to face the doppel.

She takes one step forward. The doppel backpedals several. She takes another, and it trips over itself. She takes a third, and it crawls backwards. She takes a fourth, and it finally begins to frantically crawl its way from her. She stops and stares at it, eyes frozen and unyielding to its presence.

The doppel merely stares back for a second before disintegrating into nothing. Yumiko is left there, alone, standing and staring at that spot. She slowly, voluntarily blinks before calming down and relaxing her body again.

She speaks up to the abyss, "I have passed your test! Give me what I came for!"

" **You have passed nothing."** the doll's disembodied voice confidently argues.

She scoffs, "At least show yourself, coward!"

The doll merely laughs at her, **"I'm afraid we've run out of time!"**

"What!?" Yumiko yells at it.

Shortly before she can even take a step forward, she wakes up back in her shack.

* * *

The same young man from earlier shows up again, barging in on her meditation with something urgent, by the sound of it. She can't quite tell what the fuss is about, so she quietly asks without budging an inch, "What's with this interruption?"

"I'm sorry," the young man apologizes preemptively "but some shinigami came, looking for you!"

She suddenly turns to attention, even if that is just a quick turn of the head, "What? What did they want?"

"They said that you need to come back to the barracks immediately! The captain needs all the hands he can get, apparently."

She sighs exhaustedly, "Ugh, fine. I guess it can't be helped."

While she gets her things, the man ponders aloud, "You know, everyone around here thought you were the captain! But if that's not true, what rank are you, in there?"

She shrugs, "Shit, I don't remember. Some number of officer. 14, maybe? It's alright."

"Well, I won't keep you. Even heroes have to obey their superiors, right?" he jokes, then laughs at his own joke.

Yumiko stares at him and sarcastically laughs. Then, just before he leaves, grabs him, "Wait, there's something I need."

"Eh?" he wonders aloud.

"I need about three-fifty." she bluntly states.

"Oh." he says "Here, it's nothing for me. What do you need extra money for, anyways?"

"Souvenirs." she says.

Finally, and without much of another word to anyone else, she leaves. On her way back, she manages to pick up a little something for everyone.

First was Kumi's thing, which ended up being some salvaged handheld electronic from a local oddities collector. She looked upon it with relative mystery and parted the old acquaintance with a simple wave.

Next was Jinpachi, for whom she bought a wood sculpting kit from the 26th district. She looked upon it with intense pity, but a hint of hope.

Then for Rieko, bulbs of a flower known to only grow natively in West Rukongai Districts 10-15. She looked upon them with a confident smile and took good care to wrap them up nice and safely.

Finally, for Kokoro, a few sticks of dango from District 1 which she paid for in the regular cost, plus a weird rock. Only that specific guy knew what it meant, so they winked at each other and had a friendly chat. She looked upon it with a smug grin and went on her merry way, much more satisfied than before.

Finally, she begins the speedy march back to the barracks, "Well, hope they like this. I'm not going back for anything else. Come to think of it, what _is_ a souvenir, anyways?"

She would ponder this question much more than she should on the way back.

* * *

 ** _One step closer, but not quite enough. Yumiko has only surpassed the first of many tests to discovering the true nature of her power, and the time of decision is drawing ever closer. The events of the next month will determine her ultimate fate. Next on Nikushimi no Ya: Act 2, Chapter 1 - And They Will Come._**

 ** _So this took way too long to write. Had to remake it from scratch at least 4 times, and then I went ahead and re-did the entire latter half of the plot. Completely changed everything, so I then had to re-write this again. Now I need to re-watch all of the Soul Society arc in order to properly diverge the 2nd act of this thing. Oh yeah, this is the final chapter of Act 1. It's finally over! Yay! I may release the first of Act 2 in a week or so just because I'm a bit hyped to be making progress again._**

 ** _Anyways, a very introspective chapter. Mostly character development for Yumiko and learning how her zanpakuto actually functions as both a mechanic and character in and of itself. I wonder how many people will get the symbolism once I'm done with this whole thing? By the way, we're not even half done yet. Still have the SS arc and Arrancar arc to go through. Probably won't go past that. It will get REALLY crazy towards the end. Stakes get raised to the roof. Look forward to it!_**


	21. Act 2 CH1: And They Will Come

**ACT 2:**

 **BLACK AND WHITE**

 **CHAPTER 1:**

 **AND THEY WILL COME**

"I'm ho〜me!" Yumiko enthusiastically yells into the halls leading towards her friends' rooms in the 13th Division's barracks, carrying all of the souvenirs she bought in one big sack. Nobody seems to come out.

"Well, it _is_ pretty early. I think." she admits, marching towards Kumi's door with the assumption that everyone is gathered there, again. She throws it open without a single hint of consideration, announcing her presence again, "Hey, I'm back! Come on, where's the welcoming party?"

Sprawled across the table, apparently. Kumi has her headphones on and is completely ignorant of her surroundings at the moment. Kokoro is lying on top of the kotatsu, completely knocked out from the looks of it. Yumiko grumbles and approaches Kumi from behind, cupping her hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" she asks facetiously.

"Fuck you." is the immediate response. Yumiko can only smirk. Kumi pulls her headphones off and gets up to stretch for a minute before addressing Yumiko. "So," she says lazily "you're finally back, huh?"

"What?" Yumiko asks "How long was I gone?"

"A _week._ " Kumi emphasizes.

"Oh. Didn't even realize a day had passed." Yumiko says in deadpan.

"Do you _still_ not have that time dilation under control?" Kumi crosses her arms disappointedly.

"Guess not." Yumiko admits, then changes the subject. "So what happened to her?" she points at Kokoro.

"Oh, that." Kumi glances at her. "She hit the bottle pretty hard, last night."

Yumiko groans again, "I leave for _one week_ and she becomes an alcoholic?"

"Apparently." Kumi says as she returns to her seat. "It's been hard, lately."

"It's _always_ hard." Yumiko insists.

"Not when you're around." Kumi immediately blurts out.

Yumiko is caught off-guard, "Eh?"

"What?" Kumi acts dumb.

"...Nothing." Yumiko sighs. "Anyways, here's your souvenir." She hands the electronic handheld thing that Kumi asked for.

She turns around, "Wait, you _actually got something?_ " She takes it and investigates it closely for a moment. "Wait..." she says "...Oh shit, this is a Gameboy! I've been trying to get one of these for the past month!" She sounds completely awed by it. "And the batteries are included, too! How did you get this in the fucking _Rukongai?_ "

"Just a collector I knew. Had all sorts of neat things in there. Maybe I should introduce you sometime." Yumiko explains while she crouches down next to Kokoro and begins to softly shake her.

"Yeah, that would be great." Kumi says, beginning to tinker with the tiny handheld.

"Hey," Yumiko starts to whisper into Kokoro's ear "wake up. I got something for you! Come on..."

Kokoro shuffles around and groans painfully. "Let me slee〜p..." she slurs.

"Hey," Yumiko draws closer and shakes her some more "it's Yumii. I'm finally back!"

She instantly perks her head up. "Yumii?" She looks around and has to rub her eyes clear before finally noticing Yumiko at her side. She nearly jumps up in excitement, "Yumii〜!" She gives the girl an absolutely immense hug, right around her neck.

Yumiko nearly falls over, "H-Hey, hey! Watch out, you'll crush everything!" She manages to hug back with one hand.

Kokoro backs up quickly, "Oh, sorry! I just... I'm so—" Suddenly she stops and grabs her head, groaning painfully, "Oh...O〜h! Head hurts!"

"No shit!" Kumi scolds her "Don't drink a whole bottle unless you want a hangover!"

Yumiko pats the groaning girl on the head sympathetically, "Relax. You'll get yourself hurt if you do that. Here, I brought you a little something..." She holds up the two sticks of dango she bought earlier.

"Oh." Kokoro says upon seeing it. Then it hits her harder, "Oh! Oh my god, I haven't eaten this in forever! And they're all orange; you remembered!" She takes a stick and grins so wide that it looks like her jaw might just dislocate.

Yumiko smiles back, "Glad you like it. Now on my count: one, two, three..." They both take the first bite in sync, smiling like idiots the entire time.

Kokoro swallows first and comments, "It's...just like I remember. Wow..." She takes another ball in and slows down a little, just staring at it. Her eyes slowly fall halfway, then closed. She sniffles a little and sheds a tear.

Yumiko takes notice quickly, "Oii, something wrong? You look fine, but..."

Kokoro interrupts, muffled from the dango, "It's okay... This is just so nice..." By the time she finishes the second ball, she's blatantly crying.

"You say that, but..." Yumiko worries, but stops to think about it for a second. _"No, that's not right. I know what this is. 'So happy I could cry', right?"_

After another moment, Kokoro asks, "Yumii, what's that word?"

"Huh?" Yumiko looks up, chewing her second ball.

"When you think about something old and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside." she elaborates, finishing her dango.

"Eh? Old and 'warm and fuzzy'..." Yumiko wonders "...nostalgia?"

"That sounds right." Kokoro accepts "Yeah, that's what this is. It feels nice. But, a little lonely."

The two fall silent while Yumiko finishes her own dango. Eventually, she speaks up again, "I get it. Don't worry about it. You'll be okay." She stands up and pats Kokoro on the head, who smiles the feeling away.

Kumi manages to ruin the mood by yelling at her, "Hey, could you get off my damn table, now!?"

Kokoro just now realizes she's still laying on it. "Oh, sorry!" she panics and hops off of it ASAP. Her and Yumiko stand side-by-side while they continue to talk.

Yumiko asks, "Hey, how is Jinpachi doing? Up and about by now?"

Kokoro looks down, disappointedly, "No... He's still pretty depressed."

Yumiko hums, "Well, go ahead and give him this thing for me. Hopefully, it will at least distract him with something healthier than drinking." She pulls the wood carving kit out of her bag and hands it over.

"Sculpting? You really think he'll like this?" Kokoro seems skeptical.

"You never know. Besides, it's better than nothing." Yumiko optimistically insists.

Kokoro shrugs. "So..." she changes topic "...did you hear about what happened?"

"What?" Yumiko asks cluelessly.

"That Rukia Kuchiki girl we were sent to rescue; they got her!"

Yumiko seems less surprised than she ought to be, "Oh, really? Thought she would be dead."

"And it gets crazier!" Kokoro adds. "Her older brother and his lieutenant had to go after!"

"They went that far? I get that we were unlucky, but isn't that a bit excessive?" Yumiko comments.

"And she transferred her powers to a human!" Kokoro yells.

"Wait, what?" Yumiko is dumbfounded.

"They're going to execute her!" Kokoro explains.

"That...doesn't sound right. I get that there are rules, but execution?"

"That's what I said!" she yells again. "It's horrible!"

Yumiko suddenly hears footsteps coming from nearby. She silences Kokoro with one hand, "Shh."

Just on queue, Rieko carefully slides the door open and peeks in, looking quite worse for wear than usual. She tried to conceal them with makeup, but there are obvious bags under her eyes. As soon as she spots Yumiko, she gasps, "Oh! I didn't know you were back!"

"Well shit, I yelled it down the hallway as loud as I could." Yumiko quips in deadpan, but fails as soon as she smirks at the end.

Rieko grunts aggravatedly and draws closer, stopping a couple feet away and glancing nervously between the two. She tries to start up conversation, "So did you hear about that Rukia girl?"

Yumiko says, "We were just talking about that, actually."

Rieko immediately hooks on, "It's horrible, right!? How could they want to kill such a cute girl!?"

Kokoro agrees, "I know, right!?"

Suddenly, they both fall silent and look away from each other, as if ashamed for having communicated just then. It's now that Yumiko suddenly remembers, _"Oh, right._ _ **This**_ _little issue."_

Yumiko sighs heavily, "Girls, I know you're both still on edge after what happened last week, but I think I've made up my mind."

Both of them simultaneously swing their heads at her. Kokoro speaks up first, "Really!?" Rieko says nothing, but becomes visibly tense. Only she can feel it, but Yumiko can easily see that she got a pit in her stomach just from that sentence.

She clears her throat and begins by patting Rieko's arms, "Rieko, I think we can all agree that how you did that was...not exactly the best way you could have done it."

She looks down like a sad puppy.

Yumiko continues, "Instead of doing it in the middle of the hallway like that, at a time like that, perhaps you could have... I don't know, took me on a clear, midnight stroll through the countryside? You know, do it there? Maybe a little slower, maybe with—" She inhales heavily, "I'm getting off-track. The point is: Do it better, next time."

Just saying "next time" is enough for Rieko's hairs to stand on end in anticipation.

"That said..." Yumiko continues "...I do forgive you. It's not a big deal, so don't worry."

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief so loud that Kumi becomes annoyed by it. "Oh my god, thank you." Rieko adds.

"Also," Yumiko demands their attention "I accept."

"What?" Rieko and Kokoro ask in unison, both equally shocked and confused.

Yumiko explains, "Well, I've never really done anything like this before, so I don't know what else to say or do. It would be easy to say no, but I guess it's better to do something new every once in a while. So, let's try."

They both look incredibly hopeful, but slightly skeptical, now. Rieko asks just to be sure, "Even though we're both girls?"

Yumiko crosses her arms, "Eh? I don't really care about that. You're good to me, and that's all that matters, right?"

Rieko goes from 10 to 100 in exactly two seconds. "Oh my god." she says as the revelation hits her. "Oh my god!" she becomes louder, eyes going wide and smile going wider. She pumps her arms up and down while nearly jumping up and down and yelling, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

Meanwhile, Kokoro just collapses onto the floor while sighing heavily, "Ah...everything went better than expected." She lies there with a finally relaxed smile, eyes closed.

Rieko continues to jump around and celebrate, grabbing onto Yumiko and pulling her into a tight hug while she spins around and yells at the top of her lungs, " _Oh my god,_ it's finally happening! I did it! I did it! I actually did it! _**AA**_ _ **〜**_ _ **H—!**_ "

Right on queue, Kumi yells over her, " **SHUT UP!** "

Rieko quickly stops, resorting to a quiet, whispered "Yay!" instead.

Yumiko speaks up, voice muffled from being stuffed between Rieko's breasts, "I can't breathe."

She lets go, "Ah! Sorry!"

Yumiko takes a step back and gasps lightly, "That's...better. But what's been with you, lately?"

Rieko apologizes again, "Sorry. I'll explain it all later, but right now I'm just really, _really_ happy right now!" It shows with her utterly beaming grin.

"That's good and all, but I meant..." Yumiko starts.

She covers half of her face and looks away nervously, "Oh! Aside from that. Well, I haven't been able to get this whole thing off of my mind. It's just the usual."

Yumiko raises an eyebrow, "Even if you say that, something else tells me you're not being entirely honest."

Rieko intensifies her act and completely looks away, "It's really nothing, let's just enjoy today."

Yumiko shrugs, unwilling to prod much further. Instead, she directs her attention to Kokoro, "Hey, you okay? Don't tell me you went and passed out." She pokes the girl's side with her toe.

"My head hurts." she responds.

"Well of course, if you got drunk last night. Come on, up." Yumiko crouches down to help her up.

Instead of taking her hand, Kokoro reaches for her nearly empty Sake bottle and tries to drink the rest of it. Yumiko immediately knocks it out of her hand. She yells in shock, "Hey! That's mi〜ne!"

"No." Yumiko commands. "Bad girl. No alcohol. You'll turn into a wreck again."

"But I want it!" she whines.

"No!" Yumiko insists as she lifts her back up.

"Aaah! Yuumii!" Kokoro continues to belligerently whine.

Kumi yells at them a second time, "Oh my god, _shut up!_ "

Kokoro looks like she instantly feels terrible about it. She groans and moans. Yumiko is about to console her, only to be interrupted by Rieko who picks up the bottle, "Hey, wait. Why don't we toast?"

"Eh?" Yumiko grunts.

"You know," she insists "to us! I think things are looking up again. Let's celebrate!"

Unwilling to fight back, Yumiko gives in and takes a seat at the kotatsu. "Fine," she says, sighing "just get us some saucers."

"Yes!" Rieko obediently confirms.

Yumiko immediately turns back to Kokoro, "But I expect you to not overdo it again! Understand?"

Kokoro groans, "Oka〜y..." She sits across from her.

After a minute of leaving the room, Rieko comes barging back in with three saucers and a fresh bottle of alcohol. "I was saving this thing for just a special occasion as this!" she proclaims, slamming it onto the table. Kumi scolds her for being reckless, but she ignores it.

She pours everyone a small amount in each one and slides them over to the other two. Yumiko picks hers up and asks, "So what do we toast for, exactly?"

"To being alive!" Kokoro blurts out.

Everyone stares at her awkwardly. Rieko says next, "To our future success?"

Kumi jumps in, "How about peace and quiet?"

Yumiko rolls her eyes, "And to...happiness. Yeah."

Rieko chuckles, "...You're cute, Yumiko."

"Shut up." she instinctively responds, even while vaguely blushing. And so, they all raise up their saucers and toast to each of their suggestions before chugging. They ended up partying for the rest of the day, much to Kumi's annoyance.

* * *

On the evening of August 3rd, alarms sound all around the Seireitei, signalling the arrival of intruders. For the first time in decades, something had finally broken through their defenses; something finally posed a threat. Of course, the alarms hadn't sounded in so long that when they finally had, nobody quite knew what was happening. And even further, those who decided to sleep in that day had a hard time hearing it, as in the case of Yumiko Nishimura.

"Yuumii! Wake up!" yells Kokoro from the other side of her door, banging on it so violently that it looks like it might give in. "Yuumii〜!"

Eventually, the excessive noise forces Yumiko to at least open her eyes and peer into the darkness of her room. She looks beside her, noise still surrounding her annoyingly, to find someone lying beside her. Someone excessively hot and large.

"Eh?" she wonders absentmindedly. "Rieko, is that you?"

Rieko responds by rubbing up against her lazily. Yumiko groans, "Mmmh. Couldn't sleep alone?"

She nods silently. Yumiko groans again as she hears Kokoro continually yelling at her. "I don't want to get up..." she complains.

Eventually, she has to give in and get up. Rieko tries to hang onto her arm, but she yanks it away. "Alright, I'm up! I'm coming!" she yells back. "Rieko, come on, something's up."

She, too, groans in displeasure but gets up anyways. Both of them are completely disheveled messes after waking up, so it's doubly painful for others to look at. Finally, Kokoro stops banging on the door and just says the thing, "Yumi, the captain needs to see you and all the other officers! It's an emergency!"

"Got it!" Yumiko yells back while she flips the light on and straightens her uniform out. "Uuegh..." Rieko groans as she rolls over into the spot Yumiko was lying in, arm hanging off the bed. Yumiko looks down at her with a sympathetic sort of annoyance, then begins to rip her out of the bed. "Nooo..." Rieko cries lazily.

"Come on." Yumiko insists, pulling her out of the bed and dragging all of the sheets onto the floor. "You can grab onto me." she keenly offers.

Suddenly, Rieko springs to half-life and stands up, latching onto her back so tightly that it's difficult to move. "This is fine." she says.

"Oii..." Yumiko frowns and mutters as she tries to haul both of them out of the dormitory.

Several long minutes of tired shuffling later, they both manage to get to the captain's office where everyone has been waiting for them. Sentaro Kotsubaki says as much in an increased volume while marching out of line to accentuate his point, "You're late! During an emergency, no less! This is completely inexcusable, what do you have to say for yourselves!?"

Kiyone follows up behind him and parrots, "Utterly and completely inexcusable!"

Ukitake tries to cut in and reign the pair in, "There's no need for yelling, now. Just—" but unfortunately, the arguing speaks over him.

"Hey, nobody talks to my girl like that!" yells Rieko who suddenly attained the energy of an enraged cheetah.

Yumiko just stares onwards and quietly says, "Rieko, no. Stop."

She doesn't listen. The three get into a heated screaming match which eventually escalates into Sentaro getting decked in the face so hard that it leaves his entire cheek red.

Then, just before a fight can really start (in which Kiyone has wisely backed off), Ukitake pulls Sentaro back while Yumiko pulls Rieko back. At the same time, Ukitake and Yumiko both announce, "That's enough."

The two get pulled aside, and Yumiko questions her partner, "What the hell? Fighting in the middle of everyone? Why is it always like this between you and that idiot?"

Rieko averts her eyes and stays mostly quiet besides a muttered apology. Yumiko sighs and pats her on the back, "Just don't get me in trouble too, alright?" Rieko nods.

Finally, everyone takes their places. By now, the alarm has just recently stopped sounding. Ukitake takes his place just in front of his desk while the officers all line up on the walls. He begins to brief them, "As you may have noticed, the emergency alarm system has gone off for the first time in a very, very long time. For some of you, it may be your first time hearing it. I assure you that this is nothing we cannot handle, but it will not be easy. This is what we are dealing with:"

He pulls up a holographic screen from his desk and uses a pointer to navigate it as he speaks, "The Seireitei's outer protective barrier was breached by an unknown projectile originating from the Rukongai." The monitor displays a simulation of the even while he speaks. "As you can see from this display that our friends in the 12th division made..."

Yumiko scoffs when she hears that. Ukitake pauses for a moment, then continues, "...our friends at the 12th division made, the projectile split into four separate entities upon breaching the barrier. As we speak, every other division in the Seireitei has sent search parties out to find and identify the nature of these invaders. At this moment, they are considered hostile and dangerous. Until we know more about these Ryoka, you are all under strict orders to avoid direct engagement. Is that clear?"

All of the officers speak clearly and at the same time, "Yes, captain!"

Ukitake nods and smiles, some stress having been relieved. "The four entities are predicted to have landed in these four areas..." he continues, pointing at four moderately-sized circles in four cardinal corners of the city, on an overhead map. "For those of you who I assign as scouts, your mission is to travel to these points of impact and find any trace of the entities. You will report your findings directly to your superiors. If you find the invaders in any circumstance, track them as far as possible. You are here to gather intelligence." He then proceeds to list off the four designated scouts, one of which is Yumiko.

"Next, I will be sending several officers alongside a party of several unseated, to patrol the streets and minimize any damage done to either the city itself or our personnel. Your orders are the same: Do not engage if you find the Ryoka. If you are attacked or come upon another patrol party being attacked, you may act in defense. These officers will be..." And he lists several more people, one of which is Kokoro. "Are my orders clear?" he asks them. Each one confirms in unison.

"And finally..." he begins to finish "...everyone else, your orders are to stay within these barracks as a garrison. We are on high alert: nobody leaves or enters without my expressed permission. You will carry your weapons on your person at all times. You will be up by 6:00 and to bed by 20:00. Anyone outside of their dormitories beyond these times without good reason will be detained for questioning. Do you understand?"

"Yes, captain!" they all say.

"As for myself, I will not be present in the barracks or available for direct consultation at any point during this emergency. In my absence, 3rd seats Sentaro Kotsubaki and Kiyone Kotetsu will handle all supervisory and administrative matters. For the sake of simplicity, they will be my acting replacements until further notice. Is this clear?"

"Yes, captain!"

"Are there any further questions?" he asks, pausing for a minute.

Rieko speaks up, "Captain, may I be a designated scout?"

"Request denied. We need you here, in the garrison." he instantly replies. She becomes clearly upset.

"Any others?" he asks again. This time, nobody speaks up, so he adjourns the meeting, "Then you are all dismissed. These orders take effect in ten minutes; I expect you all to be at your stations before then!"

Everyone hurriedly rushes out of the room within seconds. However, Rieko and Yumiko stop some ways down the hall when the former calls out to the latter. "Wait!" she says. Yumiko turns around slowly, only to be hugged from behind. She grunts, "Hey, we need to hurry; there's no time for this."

"Please!" Rieko cries, voice cracking. Yumiko raises an eyebrow, then looks up at her to notice that she's on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" Yumiko asks after a short sigh.

"A lot." she vaguely and briefly explains.

Guessing she's not about to spill her heart out, Yumiko just speaks her mind, "I know, you must be scared. Nothing bad is going to happen, okay?"

"But—!" Rieko tries to retort, but gets interrupted.

"I said it's okay. I'm sure this is nothing terrible. We'll be done with it soon and get to spend plenty of time together. Okay?"

It doesn't seem to console her, "But...what if something happens? What if you get hurt, or _worse_!?"

Yumiko thinks for a moment, _"So that's what it was. Honestly, you're just like a kid. But, I guess it's fine if it's her."_ Then, she speaks, "You worry too much. Nothing bad is going to happen to either of us. Now calm down before that stress gets to you."

Seeing as how it's Yumiko saying it, Rieko believes every word. "I... I know. Sorry, I—"

Yumiko interrupts her again, "Shh..." she hushes while hugging her back, tightly.

It mostly works. They stand there for a few more moments in silence, but Rieko breaks it, "I kind of admire how you can think about everything like that. I can't even control myself when things get like this, but you... You're such a strong person. More than anyone else."

Yumiko can't help but enjoy the flattery, but feels slightly ashamed for it. She says nothing, and merely parts from her soon after. "Well, we should get going. Don't want to be in the wrong place in a few minutes."

"Yeah..." Rieko solemenly agrees. The two stare at each other for a bit longer, and Rieko speaks out just as Yumiko prepares to leave, "Wait, one more thing!"

"Eh?" Yumiko turns back around.

Rieko bends over some ways and kisses her on the forehead, whispering, "I love you." while grinning and still trying really hard to not cry.

Yumiko takes a second to absorb it, and ends up making a strange expression between awkwardness and more flattery. "Crybaby." she teases to ease the awkwardness. The two giggle for a moment, until Yumiko starts to walk away again, "See you soon, Rieko."

She walks leisurely down the halls until Rieko is far behind her, still standing in that same spot. As she rounds the corner, she ponders depressively, _"Hmph. 'Strong'. That idiot..."_

* * *

 _ **Finally, Act 2 arrives with a moderately strong first chapter! Not much actually happened plot-wise, but that's going to happen when a certain event kicks up the dust a little. Until then, our girls will be preparing warmly for whatever may try to break them again! Next time on Nikushimi no Ya: Act 2, Chapter 2 - Friend Amongst Foes. That thing you thought would happen a chapter ago? It's happening now, under different circumstances.**_

 _ **Obligatory apology for lateness. I am now an entire act behind thanks to real life issues. Yes, Act 2 would have been done by now had it not intervened. I will attempt to get all 6 chapters done by the end of July. This means a lot of overtime, but I will finish this fanfic one way or another.**_

 _ **For those still reading, thank you for your continued support. This has been an arduous journey for everyone and I'm just glad that there are still those persistent enough to hold interest despite the the release schedule. You are truly a blessing in this world of impatience, and I hope you stick around to see the excessively climactic ending in store for this story.**_


End file.
